


Tiny Dots, Burning Bright

by EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12



Series: Codywan Modern AU: Tiny Dots, Burning Bright [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Adults in love, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Codywan is primary but others feature heavily, Cute, Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MY first Codywan, Meet the Family, Modern Era, NASCAR References, OBi-Wan and Anakin and Ahsoka are siblings, Professor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rating May Change, Sibling Love, This is going to end up with additional chapters, wholesome?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24266380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12/pseuds/EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi has very nearly give up on the idea of romantic love. Until he meets a lovely man: The kind who remembers your sandwich order and the illegal observatory your father tried to build, and complements the green sweater you need to stop wearing on first dates...Codywan
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Others (mentioned), Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Codywan Modern AU: Tiny Dots, Burning Bright [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765312
Comments: 130
Kudos: 458





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! Please R and R :)

“Do you own anything that isn’t a sweater?” Obi-Wan turned indignantly to look at Anakin, expecting to see a smirk on his face, but the man wasn’t even looking at him. He was instead stretched on Obi-Wan’s couch—the hideous green one that Qui-Gon had gifted to him that felt like a cloud after a long night spent staring at poorly written papers— eyes likely closed under the open issue of Popular Mechanics folded over his face. Obi-Wan didn’t subscribe to Popular Mechanics, rather it was Padme who had purchased him a subscription, a fact that her husband greatly benefitted from but remained blissfully unaware of.

“You don’t even know I’m wearing a sweater,” Obi-Wan huffed indignantly, pinning back the sleeves of the shirt under the dark green sweater he had pulled on. “And besides, you’re hardly one to talk about repetitive fashion.” Obi-Wan had seen Anakin wear four reliable things on a rotation: Band t-shirts that were occasionally replaced as they became increasingly holey, dark jeans, and either a dark vest or leather jacket. IT had been genuinely surprising when he wore a suit to his and Padme’s wedding.

“Is it the dark green one?” Anakin sat up suddenly, and Obi-Wan hurried past him to hide the slight flush of embarrassment. He caught and closed the magazine with one hand and snorted loudly as he looked over at him. “It’s your first date sweater.”

“It is not my…” But he trailed off, thinking back to the last first dates he had been on. Satine Kryze? Green sweater. Asajj Ventress? Green sweater. Hondo Ohnaka? Green sweater, though that had almost been the end of it after the sheet amount of alcohol Hondo had spilled all over him in a matter of only two hours. With enough resolve (and Resolve) he had managed to get the stains out. “It’s fine, Anakin.”

“Oh, the sweater’s fine,” Anakin said, mindlessly flipping through the pages of his magazine, something about the basic of self-propelling engines. “You should wear the glasses though. The square ones that make you look like a sexy librarian.”

“You know, that stereotype does a lot of damage, Anakin.” Obi-Wan huffed indignantly, angry again that Anakin had predicted his next move as he took the square-rimmed glasses off of the table to put them on and adjust his hair. He wasn’t a librarian per say, but he spent enough time in the Archive library at work that he could have been (and had been mistaken for one), and there was that time he had worked the reference desk during his Work Study visa. “And we’re hardly going to the library.”

“Where are you going?”

That was a good question. He supposed this wasn’t technically his first day with Cody Fett, if he wanted to count how he had come to be going on this date to begin with. Cody Fett was the Director of Public Works for the city, and truthfully they had met in passing when he had come to speak to Dr. Windu’s class on local government structure. That had been a brief exchange, a passing in the hallway, and Obi-Wan might not have remembered anything more than a handsome stranger if he hadn’t been invited to join them afterwards for lunch with the rest of the department at Dexter’s Café. Nearly an hour after the others had returned back to campus, they finally parted ways, exchanging numbers and promises to meet up.

The next day, the text had come. Today’s date, a time, a request for an address.

“I’m not sure,” Obi-Wan said, finishing pushing back his hair. “He’s picking me up.”

“Thank God you aren’t driving. I’d hate for you to give a bad impression that early in the relationship.” The only response Anakin gave to Obi-Wan’s scowl was a wicked grin and half a laugh.

“Why are you here, Anakin? Don’t you have something to bother Padme with this evening?”

“She and Bail and Breha are going to the classic movie night at the Buskirk,” Anakin said with a shrug, “So I thought I’d bother you instead.”

With a sigh, Obi-Wan regretted for only an instant the key that he had given Anakin in case of emergencies. “You didn’t feel like going to the movies?”

“Ahsoka and I have tickets to the game at Temple Stadium, but it doesn’t start until nine.”

“Joy.”

Anakin rolled his eyes, dog-earing the page he was looking at (likely a order sheet for parts) and put his feet on the edge of the coffee table. “So, tell me about this guy.”

“He works for the city,” Obi-Wan looked down at his phone; only a couple of minutes until Cody arrived. “Public works. He went to Coruscant about the same time I was in graduate school. He has several brothers.” _He likes pastoral poetry and political theory and has hazel eyes with flecks of gold and a great…_

Obi-Wan stopped that line of thinking, feeling heat creep up his face again, especially when he realized that Anakin was looking at him. Thankfully, his phone buzzed.

“And he’s here.” He took his wallet and keys off the table by the door, tucking them away securely in his pockets. “Do lock the door when you leave.” It wouldn’t be the first time he would have come home to his apartment wide open, courtesy of Anakin.

* * *

“I’m sorry, that’s my brother’s car,” The sleek black car that Cody Fett had driven to pick him up was pulled haphazardly on the grass because the motley assortment of car parts that Anakin drove (affectionately named Frankie after Frankenstein’s monster) was taking up most of the driveway not already covered by Obi-Wan’s dark grey Sedan.

“I haven’t had a good parking spot at my dad’s house since Waxer and Boil got cars,” Cody stood outside the door, wearing a dark jacket with sunglasses covering his eyes but an small smile on his face. “It’s a wonder they got their licenses at all. Can’t drive in a straight line to save their lives.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but laugh, knowing the same was true for both Anakin and Ahsoka. He climbed into the passenger side of the car, which he could tell had been freshly vacuumed and donned with a cinnamon air freshener that clipped into the vents. He couldn’t help but feel a small thrill at that, that Cody had taken the time to do that for their date.

Neither of them spoke for a moment as Cody worked to get the car back out onto the street. The street where Obi-Wan’s duplex was located was hardly busy, but it was early evening and people were starting to either return home from afternoons in the city or head out for the night. Obi-Wan took the brief reprieve to try and calm his nerves. He was thirty-six years old, hardly an age to still be getting these sort of butterflies in his stomach, but that didn’t stop them from arriving.

In truth, he had nearly given up on this sort of thing. Courting, at least. He had Quinlan and others that were fine for casual hookups or even for short flings, but it had been a long time since he had felt a nervousness like this. What if he had forgotten how this worked? What if, in the three years since Hondo had taken them to a shady nightclub on the outer ring of the City, dating had changed significantly? Hadn’t Ahsoka met both her ex-boyfriend and current girlfriend over the internet? He wasn’t sure he was prepared to navigate that sort of landscape yet.

“You know, this actually isn’t too far from my dad’s place,” Cody spoke suddenly, and Obi-Wan thought that maybe he was projecting, but was almost certain he could hear a slight hint of nervousness in his tone also. “He lives a couple of klicks closer to the university.”

“I used to live closer until it became almost all student housing,” Obi-Wan said, looking over at his companion who ‘s sunglasses hid his eyes, but seemed to be watching the road carefully, “After the fraternity moved in next door, I only lasted one football season.”

Cody grinned, tugging at a scar on the left side of his face. Not that Obi-Wan had any complaints about that. At all.

“You’d think they’d only party like that if we could actually win a game.”

It was true. The Coruscant University Jedi had a notoriously bad football program. So bad, in fact, that they had cycled through three head coaches in as many years and tickets were only a handful of credits. Anakin and Ahsoka had probably been able to get lower arena seats for the night’s game for almost nothing.

“We aren’t going to watch them lose, are we?” Obi-Wan asked, hoping it didn’t come off as rude. He enjoyed a good football game, and wouldn’t have minded at all, but since they were driving in the opposite direction, it didn’t seem that way. Cody laughed shortly, covering his mouth with one hand, and shook his head. “Where are we going?”

“I think--,” Cody paused for a moment, “I think we should make a game of it. You ask me questions: I’ll answer yes or no.”

Obi-Wan was taken aback for only a moment before his brain started to flood with ideas. What had they talked about in their conversations? “Are we going to Dex’s?”

“No, but I might have a surprise related to that.”

“Are we going to Fountains Park?”

“No.”

“To the movies?”

“No.”

“Are we going to be outdoors?”

“Yes.”

“Is this somewhere you think I’ve been before?”

“I hope not. It’s always best the first time.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, wondering what it might be. The Fall Days festival didn’t start for a few more weeks and certainly the outdoor event everyone was talking about was the football game.

“Will there be other people?”

“Yes.”

Obi-Wan cycled through other questions, but none seemed to come to mind as the car turned into a neighborhood that Obi-Wan had only visited on rare occasion. It was quieter than his own, the houses farther back from the road and single-family rather than the dense housing near the university. Porch lights blinked as the sun continued to go down around them, swathing them in growing, but gentle shadows.

Suddenly, he turned off the road, and they were bumping along a near dirt path out to what seemed to be an open field. Or, at least it would have been an open field if it weren’t for the dozens of cars parked on the grass and the small huddles of people strewn out in front of what looked like a projector screen.

“Is this a drive-in movie?”

“Not quite.” Cody was grinning again, and Obi-Wan’s curiosity was burning. He narrowed his eyes as they came closer, but the makeshift parking lot blocked his view. He stopped them in-between two cars, and climbed out, leaving his sunglasses on the seat. Obi-Wan followed on his side, moving around to the back as Cody popped the trunk.

“Hopefully it will be a clear night,” Cody’s voice was muffled as he was bent over, digging things out of the car.

Obi-Wan stepped around the open trunk to look inside where Cody was taking out a cooler and pair of blankets that he packed under his arm. “I can help carry something,” Obi-Wan offered immediately.

“If you wouldn’t mind grabbing that,” Cody pointed to a tinfoil tray, “It might be a bit warm though.”

It was a bit warm, but far from too hot to handle, and Obi-Wan carried it carefully balanced on his hands. He followed Cody out to the field where others already were, and a young man who looked vaguely familiar was fiddling with what was in fact a projector. Obi-Wan thought he might have had him in class at some point. As they came into the field, he took note of the long spindles he had missed earlier. Telescopes, dozens of them, set up around the field.

“Stargazing?” Obi-Wan said, and felt the welling up of delight in his chest. He vaguely remembered now mentioning briefly the time that Qui-Gon had tried to get a permit to built an observation platform on the house that Anakin and Padme lived in now to entertain both himself and Ahsoka, who was only a baby at the time but loved nothing more than stars and rockets and planets. He looked over at Cody, noting the redness tinting the dark brown of his cheeks.

“I remembered you said it was something you enjoyed,” Cody stumbled slightly over his words which made Obi-Wan’s ears burn, “I knew Parks and Rec were putting this on. Thought it would be perfect.”

“It is perfect,” Obi-Wan said enthusiastically, following Cody until they reached an empty telescope. Mindful of the dirt spots, he helped Cody spread the first blanket out as best he could while holding the tray until he could set it down on the fabric. “I didn’t realize you liked it as well.”

“My brother Gree loves this sort of thing. Has since he was a kid, so I’ve always enjoyed it." Cody moved the telescope onto their blanket, settling down as the kid with the projector finally got his map to start working, giving the names of the constellations that were starting to just become visible.

“How many brothers do you have?” Obi-Wan remembered one, Rex, who’s name had appeared in multiple anecdotes, and the twins, Waxer and Boil. But Gree was a new one.

“Five total. Rex, Waxer, Boil, Fives, and Gree.”

“Fives?”

“His real name is Frances, but he’s called himself Fives for along time. He’s the fifth one along, that’s where dad figures it came from.” Cody tugged on the tray, moving it where they could reach it, his arms pressing against Obi-Wan’s knee as he did. There were only a few inches between them, only a couple of the square stripes separating their legs, but Obi-Wan found himself wishing that Cody’s hand would graze his again. That perhaps they would move closer soon. Very soon. “You have siblings don’t you?”

“Two. Anakin and Ahsoka. We share a father. Anakin’s twelve years younger than I am, and Ahsoka just turned nineteen.’

“That’s a big gap,” Cody said absentmindly as he started rummaging in the cooler.

“Dad was a bit of a free spirit after mom passed away.”

“I’m sorry,” Cody frowned, stopping what he was doing but not meeting Obi-Wan’s eye.

“Oh no!” Obi-Wan felt the knee jerk reaction, “It’s been a long time. And I wouldn’t trade those two for the world.”

“I understand that,” Cody said, ease returning to his face, “I could throttle the little shits sometimes, but I’d do anything for them.”

Obi-Wan laughed, enjoying the feel of a light summer breeze blowing through his hair at the same time, lifting it off his scalp. It was a lovely night, not plagued by the late summer heat that often strangled Coruscant this time of the year. “What’s in the tray?”

“A surprise.”

“You’re a man full of surprises.”

Cody turned to look him full in the face at the flirtation and Obi-Wan could have sworn he saw the tip of Cody’s tongue press out against his lips. “Luckily for you, this isn’t one we have to wait for.” He took his hand out of the cooler and lifted lid off the of the metal tray, and Obi-Wan’s eyes widened as he took in the array of food presented. There were two fresh paninis (the exact one he had ordered at lunch), two cups of takeaway soup, and a box labeled “apple turnovers” inside, all from Dex’s Café. Cody opened his mouth, then hesitated, then opened it again.

“I wasn’t sure if this was our first or second date, so I thought having something from Dex’s was appropriate.” He reached into the cooler and handed Obi-Wan an IPA in a can so cold he could hardly believe it wasn’t frozen.

“It’s perfect!” Obi-Wan said, picking up his sandwich, “And you even remembered the banana peppers.”

They ate as night darkened, swapping stories of their families and their lives and their jobs and learning how Cody got the scar over his eye when he was serving in the Army to pay for college and laughing over Obi-Wan’s attempt to recreate Dex’s chili to disastrous (i.e. food poisoning) results and anything else they could think of until it was dark enough that they could see the stars.

“There’s Betelgeuse,” Obi-Wan said, as Orion came into view for them. He looked through the telescope, conscious of the closeness of Cody to him as he passed it to him, his breath warm on Obi-Wan’s skin against the slight breeze. He shivered a bit, and not from the cold.

As they moved onto other constellations, Obi-Wan swallowed the nerves holding him back and shifted closer until their legs were pressing together, pointing out the constellations he knew and letting Cody tell him the history of things he had not heard that his brother Gree had apparently told him over the years. It made him think of Ahsoka, of how much she would like Cody. He realized that he had scarcely thought that about anyone he had dated, and seeing as how he was already feeling so daring, he laid his head on Cody’s shoulder as the man reached Obi-Wan his second beer and first turnover.

At some point, the blanket came wrapped around their shoulders, and the warmth was lovely. It smelled deeply of fabric softener and whatever understated cologne that Cody was wearing. It smelled like fresh Earth and rain and everything else Obi-Wan found pleasant and it felt even more right when he slipped his arm around Cody’s waist, interlocking them as Cody’s still free hand pointed out some distant galaxy.

To Obi-Wan, they could have been there for days and he thinks he would scarcely have noticed the passing of time. It was the first time in a long time that he could remember feeling truly relaxed, to say nothing for relaxed on a romantic evening, and when the call came that they were wrapping things up for the night, he almost wanted to protest that they stay a bit longer. Only a bit.

But it wasn’t meant to be. And instead, he was soon helping Cody fold the blankets, shaking loose bits of grass from them and trying to ignore the heat that the felt when they pressed together as they finished the corners. He collected their trash and Cody loaded the cooler, and the drive back to his apartment was spent reminiscing over events that had just happened, only this time, the console between them was occupied with their entwined hands.

Anakin’s car was gone when they pulled back into the duplex, though Obi-Wan’s neighbors were home—a rare occasion, but he could make out vague shapes passing by the window—and Anakin had left his own porchlight on for him. “Can I walk you to the door?” Cody asked.

“I won’t say no to that,” Obi-Wan said quietly, and felt his mouth going a bit dry. There had been moments, on the blanket, when he thought that they might kiss. But Cody had seemed hesitant and Obi-Wan couldn’t’ stop the worrying in the back of his mind that the man wasn’t feeling their connection quite the way he was. But a kiss would be the perfect way to end what Obi-Wan thought might be the closest thing to a perfect night he had ever had.

Obi-Wan walked up to the door, jingling his keys, ignoring the shaking in his hands. Cody stood a bit to the side as the door opened. “I had a wonderful time,” He said, trying to keep his voice even, “Is it alright if I call you tomorrow?”

“Yes!” Cody said, almost too quickly, and Obi-Wan watched the small bit of panic across his face. “I mean, yes, I would love—like that.”

They stood in silence for a moment, tension buzzing though Obi-Wan didn’t want to push this farther than it was. “Well, I should be going,” Cody said, stumbling a bit again over his words, “Oh!” He face flashed with a memory, “I like your sweater by the way. I mean to tell you sooner.”

Obi-Wan leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, feeling the heat radiating off Cody’s cheeks. “You don’t know what it means for you to say that.” And before he made it inside, a second kiss, more straightforward, was pressed to his lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, I had so much fun writing this chapter! I'm loving writing this story as a whole really! 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy! Please R and R :) 
> 
> Also, feel free to stop by and say hi on tumblr, I have the same name on there

“So, when is he coming over?”

Obi-Wan often wondered how it was that Ahsoka and Anakin were so similar while also managing to be so different. They looked nothing alike (whereas one could at least make the argument that both Obi-Wan and Anakin had at least similar blue eyes), had vastly different interests for most of the time, and yet at the moment, they were both sitting long-ways, cross legged on the couch, fixated on the national Podracing championships. He and Padme, less interested but somewhat invested, were reading on the other couch—homework assignments that needed graded and a book on public infrastructure to be exact.

“What do you mean?” Obi-Wan knew exactly what she meant. For two weeks, he was sure that Anakin had been relaying to the room his many outings with Cody. He had seen Ahsoka in the interim, but she was busy with classes and seemed to have pointedly avoiding asking about it whereas Anakin has taken exceeding care to ask any question that came to his mind. But now, since Anakin was distracted as the racers moved to their starting positions for the qualifying races, Ahsoka seemed to think it was her responsibility to get their update on OBi-Wan's love life.

“I mean, the qualifiers just started,” She said, waving her hand at the television, “And we have so much food.” She waved over to the the kitchen where a truly monstrous amount of party snacks were stacked including several boxes of buffalo wings even though Anakin had already polished off two boxes by himself before the party even started. “Seems like a great time for him to meet us.”

Obi-Wan froze over the truly abysmal homework he was grading. He knew Ahsoka was right, that it was a great opportunity for them to meet Cody. And Cody had suggested that they do something that evening anyway (it was Saturday after all) so he was likely free. He thought back to the last introductions to his family of the people he had been dating. He thought now that Padme and Satine were perhaps better friends than even he and Satine were since it seemed that her and Obi-Wan’s favorite shared activity was arguing. He had thought for a few moments that Anakin and Asajj Ventress were going to have a fistfight in the kitchen after she had implied that Qui-Gon had left gristle in the pot pie he had cooked for them to share. Hondo…Hondo thankfully had never actually met them since the relationship had hardly lasted that long, but Ahsoka had apparently posted a large number of things about him a thread on twitter. This had to go better than those had. Or, at least, not worse.

“I’ll send him a message,” Obi-Wan said, preempting the argument rising in Anakin insisting that he did. Instead, a wide smile split his brother’s face, though it might have been because the Dug racing team was having engine trouble. He sent Cody a text (taking far too long to think out the details), explaining the event and inviting him. He deliberated for half a second on handing the phone to Padme to ensure he wasn’t being too clingy in his message, but decided that was silly and hit send. Perhaps Cody wouldn’t even respond. Or would think it was foolish—as Obi-Wan was starting to worry it was—that he had waited so long to invite him in the first place.

His phone buzzed scarcely a few seconds after he had set it down. Then buzzed again almost immediately. His heart hammered, both touched and worried about the swift reply.

_Sounds great. Address?_

_What can I bring?_

He smiled to himself, the smile turning to a blush when he realized Padme was watching him over the top of her book. “Cody wants to know if he can bring anything.”

“Hang on,” Anakin said, and pulled out his phone, typing faster than Obi-Wan thought could be possible for two fingers. He felt himself getting antsy as it drug on for an extra minute, wanting to respond to the texts, so he typed out the address, finger hovering over send. “Done.”

“Done with what?” Obi-Wan asked, but now he had a text from Anakin.

“Will you see if he’ll pick up the chocolate lava cakes I just ordered?” Anakin said, setting his phone down on his stomach, covering the Pearl Jam logo printed there. “I sent a screenshot of the payment information.”

“Anakin!” But it was Padme, not Obi-Wan who was exasperated at his behavior.

“It’s fine, Padme,” Obi-Wan said, though he did roll his eyes. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

He saved and sent the information to Cody who responded with three of the little thumbs up emojis. Obi-Wan did not consider himself to particularly adept at emojis, but he liked when Cody used them. It was sparing, but there were messages that ended with little smiley faces on occasion or a rock hand when he had sent Cody a song he had heard that he thought he might like on his drive to work. He resisted the urge to scroll through old messages and instead put his phone down only to realize that the television volume was lower than it had been and three pairs of eyes were on him.

“What?” He asked.

“Tell us about him!” Ahsoka said, looking exasperated. “None of us have met the guy. How should we act?”

“I know him.” Padme contradicted, and all of them turned to her instead.

“You know him?” Anakin asked, looking (exaggeratedly, in Obi-Wan’s opinion) betrayed.

“I’m on the City Council, Anakin, he’s the Director of Public Works.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!”

“I figured you might put two and two together,” Padme shook her head slightly, “I’m sure Obi-Wan figured out that I knew him.”

Obi-Wan nodded his head, a complete lie since he had not put that together at all, but it did get the exaggerated groan out of Anakin that helped to calm his nerves. “Just be yourselves, please,” Obi-Wan said, turning back to Ahsoka.

“Does he like podracing?” Ahsoka asked, her eyes drifting between Obi-Wan and the screen as the flags were shown to wave the cars on their first lap.

“I’m assuming he might since he agreed to come.”

“You haven’t talked about it?” Anakin had moved from betrayed to offended, it seemed, and scoffed.

“I don’t particularly enjoy podracing, Anakin, why would I have asked him about it?”

“That hurts, Obi-Wan.” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and pretended to go back to reading the next paper on his stack. It was a cheap ploy to get them to stop asking, but he was afraid he might betray just how nervous he was if he kept talking. It worked, and after only about forty seconds, the sound on the television was back up and Anakin and Ahsoka were shouting at some fo the racers who were apparently “Cheating scum!” and worse things that would have made Qui-Gon insist they drink calming tea.

Right around the time he managed to focus again on grading, his phone buzzed. It was a picture from Cody of five boxes from the pizza restaurant a few blocks over. _Feeding an army?_ It said, and Obi-Wan couldn’t help the almost giddy feeling that swelled in his chest.

Only Anakin, he responded, and that was true. The rest of them would be lucky to get a lava cake over the course of the evening. He waited, tapping his leg on the floor until he felt the pointed look he was getting from Padme at the annoying sound it was creating. She did have a sympathetic look on her face, however, which he appreciated. Obi-Wan had met Padme’s parents several time—Old money people from the City of Naboo who were fairly soft-spoken but always kind. Obi-Wan could imagine how it had gone when they had met Anakin.

He heard a car pull into the long driveway outside and stood in one motion, barely catching his stack of papers to set on the end table in his haste. He could have sworn Anakin was smirking at him, but elected to ignore it as he went to the door instead, slipping on a pair of Anakin’s oversized flip flops that he kept there to set out food for the neighborhood lothcats. Cody was outside of the car when he walked outside, dressed more casually than Obi-Wan had ever seen him.

He was wearing a gray sweater that when he turned around, Obi-Wan could see the university logo on the front, along with splashes of paint in various colors, dark wash jeans (which Obi-Wan didn’t mind at all), and a pair of boots that were similar to the sweatshirt in that they were splashed with paint. “Hello there,” He called, stepping off the porch onto the driveway.

Cody looked up at him and gave him a half smile that went all the way up to his eyes. “If your brother really eats all of these, I think he might die.” Obi-Wan reached his hands out, taking a small stack of boxes from Cody, who casually leaned in to kiss him. The action didn’t register fully with Obi-Wan until Cody had reemerged from the car, the rest of the boxes tucked under one arm and a ballcap in his other hand. He hadn’t expected such a casual kiss, hadn’t realized that was something they were doing or something that he wanted. Now, having had it happen, he realized that encapsulated everything he wanted.

“Rex thought I needed to make sure I had the appropriate attire,” Cody said, pulling the _Mando’a Racing Team_ hat onto his head, adjusting it with his free hand before shutting the car door and gesturing for Obi-Wan to follow him in. “I told him I was worried about starting a fight.”

“I think any team but the Dugs is a safe bet in this house.” Obi-Wan told him and Cody nodded like he agreed that decision was in good taste. His eyes were moving all over the porch at the motley collection of furniture there. Though Qui-Gon had been gone for three years, his character remained in little touches of the house that Anakin and Padme and Ahsoka (when not on campus) stayed in. The porch furniture, including a rock with the words “Grow, dammit” carved into it were a testament to that. The thought hit Obi-Wan with a pang, thinking of Qui-Gon who had always supported him in his romantic endeavors though he had certainly had varying opinions on Obi-Wan’s choice of companions, and a strong moment of wishing he was there to meet Cody.

He opened the door for them, holding it open for Cody who stepped carefully over the door facing that had always been just a bit annoyingly tall. Obi-Wan kicked off Anakin’s sandals, and Cody followed suit with his boots.

“Cody, this is my brother Anakin, my sister Ahsoka, and I know you already know my sister-in-law, Padme,” Obi-Wan nodded towards them all in turn, swallowing back his nerves as Anakin muted the television again.

“Hello,” Cody said, “It’s nice to meet you all. And to see you again, Councilwoman.” He added, with a nod to Padme.

“Padme is just fine,” She insisted with a smile, “It’s nice to see you again as well. Especially since Obi-Wan talks about you so often.”

Obi-Wan felt his face heating, and turned to Cody. “Why don’t I give you a short tour of the house and we can make it back before the big race starts.”

Cody nodded, but Anakin interrupted. “Wait!” He almost shouted as the sound on the TV came back on. For a moment, Obi-Wan was afraid he was going to start some sort of bizarre interrogation, but he just waved at Obi-Wan. “Hand me a box of cakes; me and Snips can split a pair while their still warm.”

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan breathed, not knowing whether to be relieved or annoyed, but to his surprise Cody laughed and stepped forward to hand them a box of cake.

“My brother Rex loves those things.”

“Thanks for picking them up,” Anakin said, though now both his and Ahsoka’s mouths were full of chocolate. “I forgot to get them when I ordered the wings.”

“Not a problem,” Cody said, turning back to Obi-Wan, looking thoroughly amused.

“Let’s go to the kitchen first. Set these boxes down.” He said, desperate for a brief moment of unexamined reprieve. Cody nodded and followed him through the living room, his eyes moving all over the walls of the house. Anakin and Padme had certainly redecorated since they had officially moved in, but again there were bits of Qui-Gon. Notably the frame that held all of Obi-Wan’s school pictures that he wished he had thought to take down before Cody saw him in the Duck sweater and short pants he had worn for third grade picture day. There were other things as well: Postcards and flags and the pictures from Anakin and Obi-Wan’s high school graduations with Qui-Gon and Ahsoka’s without him. There was the tea towel that had the cardinal rules of gardening printed on the fabric and the photographs that Qui-Gon had taken of mountains and seashores and forests and desserts that he had driven to, either by himself, or with the three of them in the car. There was Anakin and Padme’s wedding picture with him and Ahsoka and the Justice of the Peace who had married them and there was the picture that they had taken on the wedding scheduled date with all of their friends at the reception. More strange furniture, some of which Anakin had built himself for Padme; a full tabletop display of penguins going ice skating that Qui-Gon had for as long as Obi-Wan could remember. The house was certainly not the same as when his father hand lived in it—he paid rent on a storage unit where many boxes of strange bits and baubles were stored for the time being, but Anakin and Padme had always been careful to try and retain some of the feeling that he had imbued it with. This, Obi-Wan was certain, was a large reason that Padme had not taken up the hideous green carpet that Qui-Gon had put in the living room only a few months before he had passed away because he said the place had become far too dreary for a sick person to live in.

That was not something he could simply tell to Cody, who was currently seemingly impressed by the sheer volume of chicken wings, cheesticks, celery, and dip occupying the kitchen counters. It wasn’t that he didn’t want him to know, but there didn’t seem to be words adequate or appropriate to explain to a man that you had been seeing for two weeks that your late father’s presence in his old home was still evident. That seemed, even though he might not have been as updated on the machinations of dating as he had been once, a bit heavy. Even if they now were the kind of couple who kissed casually as a hello.

The thought warmed him a touch and he smiled over at Cody, who seemed to be waiting patiently on him to speak. “As you can see, we have plenty of food for the party, feel free to help yourself when we get back.”

“Are all of those chicken wings?” Cody gestured to the remaining boxes on the counter, on of which was leaking a bit of sauce that Obi-Wan grabbed a paper towel to wipe up. He nodded.

“Buffalo, lemon pepper, and some kind of fruit and habanero flavor, I think.”

“I think your brother and Rex would get along quite nicely.”

Obi-Wan stepped back around the counter, and, feeling a bit daring, reached down and took Cody’s hand in his own. “Hopefully they’ll get to meet soon.” He let the implication behind the word sit between them as he pulled Cody into the dining room, telling the short story of how Anakin had found the pieces of an old pirate ship for sale in an antique shop one year when they were on vacation and, after minimal convincing of Qui-Gon to buy them, had built the table for the house. After the dining room came the downstairs bathroom and Ahsoka’s bedroom (door closed) and the small study that Qui-Gon had used for his photography and now Padme used for various aspects of work and for the library of books that she had been accumulating since college. Then the upstairs with the Master Suite closed off, a peek into Obi-Wan’s old room though it had been mostly stripped bare for years. And finally the small nook that overlooked the backyard.

“This window used to be perfect for looking out at my father’s garden,” Obi-Wan said, loosening his grip on Cody’s hand as he stood in front of the window, only the tips of their fingers pressed together. “He used to grow it every summer and then pumpkins for the fall. Decorated the house with dozens of them, gave the rest to the kids who live near here.”

“Sounds like an interesting man,” Cody said, and Obi-Wan gave a short laugh, covering his mouth.

“That is certainly true.” He was thinking of a different time in this same room, when Qui-Gon had been so sick and he hadn’t wanted to stay in his bedroom any longer so they had brought his medical bed and all of his tubes and wires in here instead. And Obi-Wan had come over, one of those last days when he had just moved back to the city, and had seen Qui-Gon sitting in the window seat looking at a book of pictures with the light filtering in through the glass, a light rain seeming to soothe him. It had only been a moment before the gauntness of his face, the tube of oxygen still hooked to his nose, the strange posture that he was sitting in because it was the least painful had registered and Obi-Wan had felt that in that moment, that he could have been perfectly fine. Perfectly peaceful, as he had been when Obi-Wan had left to do his research tenure years before that.

“You know,” Said Cody, and Obi-Wan blinked, feeling a tear catch at the edge of his eye. He felt a surge of panic. He had invited Cody over for a party, not to cry about his father which he hadn’t done for a long time. “My dad planted a rose garden for my mom and my brother Boba; keeps it up every year.”

“Boba?” Obi-Wan asked. Certainly not a brother that Cody had mentioned before.

“Died when was only a couple of days old. Mom, too. Complications with the pregnancy.” He said in short sentences. “I like dad’s roses, but its hard to look at them sometimes. Gree helps him tend them, but I can’t; he was a lot younger when it happened, doesn’t remember much about her.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was gratitude or some other, far more complicated emotion than that. Cody knew. Not everything, didn’t know the details of Qui-Gon’s sickness here or the stack of books he had insisted that Obi-Wan read at the same time as him so they could talk about them while he got his treatments that were sitting on Obi-Wan’s shelf at work because he couldn’t’ stand to keep them at the house. He didn’t know those things, but he did know all the same. The grief. The loss. The lingering warmth that made it all bittersweet instead of simply bitter. How many times had Obi-Wan wished, in anger, that it would simply all be bitter so that it might be easier?

“I’m sorry,” He said, and turned to Cody, letting the late fall sun catch them both in a wash of gentle heat. “About your mother and Boba. And,” He hesitated, not able to stop the small smile, “And for inviting you to a party and then…”

“You don’t have to apologize,” said Cody, almost fiercely. He shifted his fingers, tightening his grip on Obi-Wan’s hand. He looked like he was going to say something else, but instead leaned towards Obi-Wan who met him in kiss tinged with so many kinds of passion that Obi-Wan could hardly place them. When they broke apart finally, Obi-Wan opened his eyes slowly, savoring the moment of breathlessness. “We should probably go downstairs before Anakin comes up to get us.”

“Good idea,” Cody grinned, and swung their arms forward, following Obi-Wan back to the living room.

When they arrived in the living room, Padme informed them that the qualifying races were done, and the actual race would be starting in a few minutes. Anakin and Ahsoka were stocking up on food and drinks in the kitchen, where Obi-Wan could hear them arguing over whether or not Ahsoka could have a beer.

“It’s not like I haven’t had one before!” Obi-Wan heard as he and Cody headed towards the kitchen to get food themselves.

“You’re nineteen, Snips. Padme is a city official; I can’t just have you drinking beer at the house.”

“You gave me my first beer, Anakin. Three years ago.”

“Anakin’s right, Ahsoka,” They both turned as Obi-Wan and Cody stepped into the kitchen. Anakin laughed triumphantly, tossing Ahsoka a can of cranberry Sprite instead before he moved to balance two plates of chicken and cheesesticks on one free hand and the bottle of beer he had just opened for himself. She huffed, but didn’t argue as she started to stack celery on own plate next to the already arranged stack of lemon pepper wings.

Obi-Wan ignored the huff, handing Cody a plate. “What would you like to drink?” He asked Cody, opening the fridge.

“I’ll take a beer if there are anymore,” Cody said, filling his plate with food, “Unless you think that will make me an enemy instead of a friend.”

“I think you’ll be forgiven,” Obi-Wan said, grinning at Cody’s wink. He popped the cap off with bottle opener refrigerator magnet, handing it to Cody before taking another for himself from the door of the fridge. “That mango habernero is a new flavor, you’ll have to tell me if its good.”

“You like spicy food?” Cody asked, setting his plate down on the counter to wait while Obi-Wan fized his own.

“I do try to like spicy food,” Obi-Wan had to laugh a bit at himself. “I love the flavor but sometimes I…struggle when things are too hot.” He felt a blush creep up his face at the amusement in Cody’s expression as he stocked up on the lemon pepper wings and only two of the buffalo (giving the habanero a wide berth).

“I’ll have to cook my hatch chicken chili for you sometimes,” Cody said, “It’s got a kick, but not as much as these wings are doing to have.” He followed Obi-Wan back into the living room where he took the middle seat on the couch between him and Padme, sitting close enough to Obi-Wan that their thighs were touching. The race hadn’t started, but Anakin and Ahsoka were in a heated argument over whether or not the Corellian team should even be allowed to compete.

“So, you’re a Mando’a fan?” Ahsoka said, breaking the argument with Anakin and nodding at Cody’s hat.

“Born and raised,” Cody said, biting the end of a buffalo wing and not even flinching whereas Obi-Wan was starting to wonder if they had raised the amount of spicy pepper they were putting in with the lemon seasoning. “My brother Fives roots for the Kaminoan League, but we consider that a fluke at our house.”

“Mando’a is a pretty good team,” Anakin conceded, “Not as good as Mustafar.”

“Tell that to this year’s Tri-City Championship,” Cody said casually, but Anakin gaped. Ahsoka laughed out loud at the look on his face, turning to face Cody fully. “They need a new pit crew is the problem. Can’t run a good race without a good crew.”

Obi-Wan was not sure how exactly it had happened, but soon enough his brother, his sister, and Cody were all yelling instructions to the racers on the screen, only stopping to discuss what they each considered the appropriate approach that clearly none of the drivers were taking. It was more than once that Obi-Wan looked behind Cody, who at times was sitting on the edge of the couch to get a better view of one of the major wrecks, and caught Padme’s eye to share a bewildered expression. As the race neared its conclusion at 250 laps, he got up to reheat the remaining lava cakes for the rest of them to eat. He cleaned up the kitchen as he did, bagging up the empty chicken boxes and putting the leftover celery in the refrigerator while he waited. It took longer than the thought, and he half expected the race to be over when he returned, but instead, it seemed a wreck large enough to cause a caution delay had happened and they were all talking.

“I applied to study in Scotland next year for a semester,” Ahsoka was saying, “They have an abroad program at the University of Edinburgh that’s the best in the world for geology, but I wont know anything until October.”

“You want to be a geologist?” Cody asked, taking his lava cake from Obi-Wan with a smile of thanks as he listened.

“That’s the plan! I’m hoping to work on a reclamation team for old coal mining and hydraulic fracking sites.” She said excitedly, “I applied for an internship with Eagle Mining to do that for the summer.”

“That’s great,” Cody said, hand over his mouth as he talked, “They did a lot of mining out where dad’s from. Did a lot of damage to the water system out there, especially.”

“Exactly!” Ahsoka said, “There’s so much benefit to reclaiming those old sites for people who live near them. I might end up doing mining engineering, but all those jobs are with the mine companies. At least according to Anakin.”

Cody made a noise of agreement in his throat, and Obi-Wan blinked, taking a bite of his own cake.

“I’m just trying to keep you from having to sell your soul, Snips,” Anakin said, polishing off the first cake Obi-Wan had given him, and starting on the second. “It’s like mechanical engineering. I actively chose to not work for a company that patents that sort of shit, even though it would pay a lot more.”

Obi-Wan’s heart was pounding, worried they would offend Cody, but the man seemed in total agreement. “We had a guy who spent a month with my squadron when I was serving overseas, wanted to a try and design a new type of unmanned bomber, the bastard. Threw a wrench in that at every opportunity.”

“You were in the service?” Ahsoka asked, and Obi-Wan saw her eyes settle on Cody’s scar for a split second.

“Navy. Needed the money for school, and I’m proud of some of the things we accomplished,” He said, “Several of the people I served with live in the city now. I’ve got two on my crew for water treatment.”

The race restarted with a flourish of cars and the last fifteen laps passed quickly and ended in a nail biter until the Naboo team driver, some guy named J.J., emerged victorious after the Mustafar car spun out into the side on the last turn. Groaning exasperatedly, Anakin took a fresh twenty dollar note out of his wallet and passed it to Ahsoka for them to pass around to Padme, who looked smug.

“I didn’t realize you were a fan,” Cody said, turning to her.

“Oh, I’m not,” She held up her book that she had finished, “But I did bet Anakin twenty dollars that Naboo would win today.”

Cody laughed, leaning into Obi-Wan a bit. He had been getting increasingly closer throughout the race, looping his arm through his and holding his hand, pressing them against the inside of Obi-Wan’s knee. He was warm, very warm, but not uncomfortable, and Obi-Wan enjoyed the pressure of him against him. Welcomed it, truly.

“What can I do to help clean up?” He asked, turning to Obi-Wan.

“I actually already cleaned up almost everything,” Obi-Wan said, and he could feel the evening coming to a close. He was sad for a moment, not having expected it to feel so natural to have Cody there with them.

“I should probably go, then,” Cody said, “Don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“You wouldn’t be,” Obi-Wan said, resisting the urge to plead with him to stay, but not resisting when stood. “I’ll walk you out.” Cody smiled, taking his and Obi-Wan’s and Padme’s plates to the kitchen before he remerged to put on his shoes.

“Thank you all for having me,” He said while fixing the heel of his boot. “I had a great time.”

“Anytime,” Anakin and Padme said together before looking at each other with fake suspicion.

“It was great to meet you!” Ahsoka said enthusiastically, “If Gree wants to talk to someone on campus about the Aeronautics program, I’m happy to set that up. Obi-Wan can give you my number.”

“Thanks, I think he’ll definitely take you up on that.” Cody said, before opening the door with a final wave to the room. Obi-Wan followed him out, letting the slight chill of the night air make him shiver a bit and wish he had taken the time to put on his own shoes instead of wearing Anakin’s sandals again. They paused at the door of Cody’s car.

“I’m glad you were able to come over,” Obi-Wan said to him, meeting his gaze even though his old anxiety had creeped up again, “I hope you had a nice time.”

“Your family’s great,” Cody said, and Obi-Wan could tell that he meant it, “And I’m starting to like how I spend any day I spend with you.”

Obi-Wan felt himself blush, wishing his skin could hide it better. How to say that he felt the same? That this had felt so natural of an evening with Cody that it seemed that in a way they had always been together. That this wasn’t him meeting Obi-Wan’s family, but was instead a regular, happy occurrence.

“I’m glad you liked them,” He said, “But how would you like to come over to my apartment next weekend? Just you and me?”

Cody’s eyebrows lifted just a bit, that half smile creeping back over his features. “I’m free next Friday,” He said, “And some days in-between if you’re interested in getting dinner this week.”

“That sounds perfect,” He said, and then lifted his hand up to curve around Cody’s jaw, pulling him into a kiss. It twisted around knots of something in his belly; desires that weren’t unfamiliar in their time together, but stronger than they had been. Cody, it seemed, had been feeling them too as he pressed Obi-Wan back against the door of his car. He managed to ignore the cold of the metal until one of Cody’s hands slipped under his sweater and exposed a strip of bare skin on his back to it. He started forward, falling into Cody who caught him against his chest.

“I better go,” Cody said, breathless with their kiss and their laughter, “I’ll text you about dinner.”

“Goodnight,” Obi-Wan said, stepping back and waiting until Cody’s car was out of sight to go back inside.

He stepped back inside, expecting to hear the tell-tale signs of the after show on the television, but instead the house was eerily silent. Instead, as they had earlier, every member of his family was clearly waiting on him to return, tracking his motions as he returned to the couch. No one spoke for nearly a minute, so he cleared his throat, and started.

“Cody had a nice time,” He said, hoping that their silence did not mean that they hadn’t had a nice time. IT had seemed they were getting along well. Hadn’t it?

“Obi-Wan, he’s….” But Anakin seemed to loose his words halfway through his sentence.

“He’s what?” Obi-Wan said fiercely, feeling suddenly protective. They had met Cody once! What right did they have to----

“He’s perfect for you.” Ahsoka finished what Anakin had started, and Obi-Wan looked around to see both his brother and Padme nodding in agreement.

“Absolutely,” Padme said, “I can’t believe I didn’t introduce you two sooner.”

Obi-Wan felt the grin he couldn’t’ back splitting his face in half. He had been right then. This had been right.

“I can’t believe you made out with him in our driveway.”

He hurled the decorative pillow lying next to him at Anakin’s head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!
> 
> There is a bit of m-rated content in this chapter, but it is all included between the two lines and the chapter shoudl be fine without it. If you don't want to read that bit, please feel free to skip over!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!  
> Please R and R, let me know what you think!

**Please read the author's note before starting :)**

He woke with a start to the taste of matcha tea dried on the roof of his mouth and a stiffness in his lower back that screamed in protest as he sat up. He scrubbed sleepily at his face, feeling the outline of the tweed fabric of his jacket imprinted there where he had laid down. He glanced at his watch; a few minutes till 8 which meant he had been asleep for almost three hours. He wanted to groan out loud; only yesterday he had protested Anakin’s statement that he looked ready to fall asleep in the lamb curry takeout they had eaten for dinner. Not even Padme had come to his defense, cocking her head with her eyebrows raised in the way that meant she thought Anakin was making a good point.

And now it seemed he had proven them correct. He leaned back in his chair, setting his glasses on his desk and arching his back forward to work out the crick that had formed there. His only defense was that it was midterms and his workload had nearly tripled in the past week alone; sleep was a luxury as it was, and at the current moment, sleeping meant that he wasn’t spending time with his…boyfriend? Thirty-six felt far too old to have a boyfriend. Partner felt very deep for a relationship that had just secured its second complete month of existence.

 _“Significant other_ ,” Anakin had suggested, doing a painfully good impression of Obi-Wan’s accent that it made Ahsoka spit out half a mouthful of popcorn, ruining the rest of the bag for Obi-Wan (but not for Anakin who seemed extremely unbothered as he had eaten another handful), “ _I think you’re taking this too seriously.”_

His nightly routine with his _significant other_ had become something of a small joy to Obi-Wan. On the night’s that Cody didn’t come over to cook dinner and there wasn’t a water main break or a crashed utility line or an issue with the city broadband connection or some other crisis in the Capital Public Works Department, they would text or do a brief call or something else that made sense when you were both busy and in a relationship. But there were some nights, like two nights ago, when Cody had called him and they had stayed on the phone late hours into the night.

It had started as conversation about the pot roast that Cody had made for dinner in his Crock Pot, only to come home and find that Rex had already eaten half of it with homemade biscuits he had made (and obliterated the kitchen with.) The fact that Rex knew how to make homemade biscuits had been news to Cody, who had thought for the last six years that it was all Rex could do to boil pasta.

 _“You know, my father was the same way.”_ And that had become a deep dive into parts of Obi-Wan’s life that he had never shared so openly. The Saturday after his mother had died when his dad had tried to make homemade spinach noodles and they had ended the night on the lawn, covered in fire extinguisher foam with all the windows open to let out the smell. The day that Anakin came home with them only to leave again with his mother before he came back again when he was nine years old. The day that Qui-Gon brought Ahsoka home after her mother had given up her parental rights, not knowing about her existence at all since Ahsoka’s mother had been a very brief fling. The colors of Play-Doh that Anakin used to hide in the toes of Obi-Wan’s shoes and the way that Ahsoka had been fascinated with his hair as a baby because it was so bright red.

And he talked about the times after that. When Qui-Gon had gotten sick so quickly that it was four days after Obi-Wan had agreed to take a teaching position at Coruscant to be close to help take care of him he had instead found himself both an orphan and the legal guardian of a sixteen year old girl who seemed to know much more about the world than he did sometimes. And Cody had listened, listened as the tears welled up in his eyes on his end of the phone thinking about that first week when he hadn’t known how he was going to pay the rest of the lease on his duplex and on a place big enough for the two of them to live in and how the last of the money Qui-Gon had saved for Anakin and Padme’s wedding had gone to cover the last of the funeral expenses and how empty Qui-Gon’s house had felt in those handful of days when Obi-Wan stayed there with his sister and he thought that any moment he would be swallowed into the ground with his grief. And he spoke about the time right after that, when Anakin and Padme had eloped and moved back into the big house with Ahsoka. When the University informed him that as Ahsoka’s legal guardian, his status meant that she could attend the university tuition-free. When he had sold the textbook rights he had been working on and gotten enough money to finish payments on the house and the car and put the rest in a fund to cover room and board and books for her to go to school on. When, in the past three years, Anakin had screamed into the cushions on Obi-Wan’s couch or had cried as they finally managed to box up the last of Qui-Gon’s tchotchkes and put them into the storage unit that Obi-Wan rented. Or the breakfast when Ahsoka had said she was going to study geology and Obi-Wan had been hit with such a wave of grief for his father, who had done the same, that he poured his oatmeal down the garbage disposal and cried in his office.

And he listened as Cody told him about his own family. Learned dozens of the little things about all of them, all in a row. About Rex, who had followed Cody into working for the City government. About sharing a room with his brother until he left for college, spending most of his time fighting for space in the bathroom and on the treadmill in the garage and at the dinner table only to make the choice to share the apartment with Rex as adults. He learned about Cody’s father, Jango, who was the head of factory line that made truck bumpers at the General Electric plant on the far side of the city and about Cody’s mother who had been a child negligence caseworker until she passed away when Cody was fifteen. He learned about Fives who wanted to be a welder and Waxer and Boil who were trying to make it big by creating phone apps and saving up to buy a big rig for Boil to drive while Waxer finished his informatics degree. And he learned about Gree, who was about to finish high school and wanted more than anything to be a professor of Astronomy or Aeronautics or something of that sort. How proud Cody was of him.

He learned about Cody’s time in school, where it had been split between a fellowship with the city and classes so it had taken six years instead of four. Of his slow climb up the ladder in his department, staying dependable to a tee and spending long nights up to his elbows in sewage and wastewater keeping the city operating until he got promoted when the old Director retired.

When the conversation had come to its natural conclusion, the clock on Obi-Wan’s bedside table had read 2:43 in red block letters, but that wasn’t sleep he could make himself mourn for. He slept in his clothes that night, phone close by his head, thoughts filled with a man who lived across town and other things he hadn’t let himself think of in the past three years.

And that had been before his freshman seminar class--with no TA--had turned in their midterm papers for him to grade. And his research deadline had been bumped up by a week by Dr. Windu.

“I’m sorry I’m not better company,” Obi-Wan shifted his papers again on Cody’s end table, taking a quick bite of the hatch chicken chili that Cody had given him, letting out an open mouth breath at the spice. “I know you didn’t call me to watch me grade papers.”

“I called you because I wanted to be with you,” Cody corrected, and took a long sip of water, his hazel eyes fixed on Obi-Wan over the rim of the cup. “I don’t mind what you’re doing.”

Obi-Wan smiled over at him, wishing he had the time to return the signals that Cody was obviously sending him. The man had called almost as soon as Obi-Wan had climbed into his car, inviting him over for an evening in, dinner included. Obi-Wan, not sparing even a thought for the chicken he had thawed in his plan to cook for himself, had agreed immediately. But his unplanned nap during his planned grading time meant bringing his work with him. He hoped Cody didn’t think he wasn’t interested, but there wasn’t much to be done about it. He cast his eyes back down to his paper, swallowing another bite of soup and taking a sip of the iced tea that rested on the coaster.

* * *

He started reading the paper on the top of the stack, marking mistakes and triumphs in his personal shorthand; absorbing the sound of whatever Cody was watching on the television in the back of his mind. He was almost certain it was the Great American Country channel which Anakin sometimes turned on when he thought Padme wasn’t home and had something to build or fiddle with. Endless music videos, both new and old of various country singers and up and coming stars. Not exactly Obi-Wan’s cup of tea, but it was another hint at Cody’s life.

The same could be said for most of the apartment. The couch they were on, for example, was incredibly comfortable—well-worn with soft slipcovers—while the other couch against the wall was a sleek modern design that looked like it might mean a rough night for someone’s tailbone. The picture hanging on the wall of Cody, his parents, and his five brothers (Gree couldn’t have been more than a few months old, though his mother was nursing another baby bump), all of whom looked incredibly alike. Obi-Wan had only met Rex so far of all of Cody’s brothers, and that was only in passing (though Cody assured him it was because all but Gree and Rex had been elsewhere for school and work, but that he could meet them around the holiday). Rex technically lived in the second bedroom of the apartment they were in, but Cody said he had been traveling increasingly often doing professional development for the city and Cody often had the apartment to himself.

That thought swam to the front of Obi-Wan’s mind as he finished marking the conclusion of the paper in his hands. Since the sleek silver car that meant Rex was home was absent from the driveway, he assumed he wasn’t here this evening either. When Cody had called, he had assumed Obi-Wan was at his apartment (as he usually would have been), plenty of opportunity to bring some cleaning basics and a change of clothes. Perhaps Cody had meant for him to stay the night.

He swallowed visibly at the thought of that, the next paper he was meant to work on blurring as his mind turned to nicer thoughts of flushed skin and warm hands and the noise Cody made when he touched him right where…

“You seem distracted.”

Obi-Wan jerked upwards, startled out of his own thoughts, dropping his papers to the ground. If anything, it made the stack of them seem larger and even more insurmountable. Cody’s eyes stayed on his for a moment, setting down his drink as he moved to pick up the papers from the floor.

“Thank you, I don’t know what’s wrong--” Cody didn’t rise from the floor; however, settling back on his heels. He didn’t hand the papers back to Obi-Wan either, instead setting them on the cushion next to him. “With me.” He finished. 

The intensity of Cody’s stare made Obi-Wan swallow again, only this time it left his mouth dryer. He had seen those eyes on Cody before; when they had finally fallen into bed together that Friday that Cody came and spent the night at Obi-Wan’s apartment and on many dates, outings, excursions, or get-togethers since that time. He shifted his hips, feeling his own desire growing.

“Since you’re already distracted,” Cody said, holding his hands up in a mock shrug, “I thought maybe a little stress relief might be nice.”

“Stress relief.” Obi-Wan repeated, feeling the hoarseness in his voice as Cody’s face changed to a slight upward smirk.

“You’ve seemed more than a bit stressed lately, Dr. Kenobi,” Cody said and shifted across thin grey carpet to put his hands on Obi-Wan’s legs, moving them slowly up his thighs. “Let me help.”

Obi-Wan shifted his hips again, his dress slacks becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the sensation of his _significant other_ inching closer and closer to where his blood was now pooling thickly. “If you think it will help.”

“Oh, I think you’ll be very satisfied with the results,” The grin on Cody’s lips now was almost wicked, a rare sight for the reserved man. It tugged at the scar over his left eye and Obi-Wan felt bad for only a moment at how attractive that whole movement was, or the bolt of arousal it shot straight through his body.

Cody’s hands were fast, undoing Obi-Wan’s belt buckle with ease, snapping it out of the loops in a single, swift motion. He moved onto the clasp of Obi-Wan’s pants, undoing the button and zipper with practiced fingers. He tugged on them, and Obi-Wan lifted his hips from the couch to assist. “I shouldn’t have worn such tight pants,” He says, not realizing he was panting until he tried to speak.

“Oh, I disagree,” Cody said with a slight laugh, “I think they certainly have their merits.”

Obi-Wan did feel his face redden a bit at that. It’s not that he was particularly insecure about his appearance, merely that when you were thirty-six, it started to feel like most compliments were either obligatory from people who hadn’t seen you in a while or from people who thought you had something to offer them. But those words, when Cody said them, paired with the fact that Obi-Wan had practically felt Cody’s eyes lingering on him earlier, fueled his desire that much more.

Cody’s hand slipped under the waistband of his boxer shorts, pulling Obi-Wan out of his state of mind. It was such a relief, he thought, to have to think of nothing, that he couldn’t stop the groan that came out of his mouth at the feeling. Or the several that followed after Cody’s lips closed around him.

To Obi-Wan, the world seemed to blur there for a few minutes. Each time the thought bubbled up that he should be working, that he’d taken enough time already today by sleeping for three hours, that he was allowing himself far too much leniency in this, it was overshadowed by a wave of pleasure that seemed to wipe his mind clean. Cody hummed around him, taking him as far into his mouth as he could. Obi-Wan wanted nothing more than to thrust his hips forward, chase the total pleasure that was just eluding him, but he didn’t want Cody to choke so instead settled for gripping the couch covers until his knuckles were white. When he reached his peak, he tore his hand free to cover his mouth to hide the sheer volume of the sound that came from his throat.

He laid his head back on the couch, feeling the beads of sweat that had formed on his face running down to his neck, catching his breath while Cody covered him again with his boxer briefs. He didn’t move when Cody was finished, standing to take away the dinner dishes while Obi-Wan caught his breath. He waited a minute longer than he would have normally before adjusting his own pants again, standing to slide his belt back through his slacks.

* * *

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” Cody’s voice came from the kitchen doorway, and Obi-Wan turned as he refolded his buckle.

“I…” In truth, Obi-Wan had been debating the idea himself, thinking about the shower he needed, wondering if Cody might join him there. But reality hit. He was due at work at 7:45 tomorrow morning, had no change of clothes, and desperately needed sleep. “I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

“I know,” Cody said, and something in his face told Obi-Wan that he understood, even it wasn’t what either of them wanted. Obi-Wan debated for half a second whether Cody might be interested in some stress relief of his own, but there was noise at the front door.

“Codes?” Rex’s body followed his voice into the living room where he stopped at the sight of Obi-Wan for only a second before he nodded in greeting, tossing the duffel bag he was holding onto the uncomfortable looking couch with a flourish. “You make chili?”

“Do you ever think of anything but food?”

“Not when I haven’t eaten since three this afternoon,” Rex vanished into the kitchen and Cody shook his head in apology. Obi-Wan moved to the couch to start stacking his papers to take back with him. Rex remerged with a heaping bowl of the chili, not even flinching at the spice that had made Obi-Wan’s eyes water. “You doing all right, Professor?”

“I’m doing great, actually,” Obi-Wan said. And that was true. He felt the best he had in a while. Cathartic. “You?”

“Better now,” Rex lifted the bowl of chili, giving a satisfied smile. He moved, taking the seat on the couch that Cody had vacated. “You staying over?” Rex asked casually and Obi-Wan felt his face flood with color, even though he could also acknowledge it was nothing to be embarrassed about.

“Not tonight,” He said, stuffing the last of his things into his bag. Rex shrugged, changing the channel from Cody’s music to what Obi-Wan thought might be COPS. “I should be going.”

Obi-Wan turned to Cody who was glaring daggers at his brother’s blonde head.

“Your Anakin Skywalker’s brother, right?” The question startled both Obi-Wan and Cody.

“I didn’t know you knew Anakin.”

“I don’t. Not yet anyway. He and one of the students from the university signed up to coach one of the Parks and Rec soccer league teams,” Rex explained, not taking his eyes off the television.

“Ahsoka Tano?” Obi-Wan asked.

“That’s her!” Rex said, raising his spoon, “They signed up to coach the six and seven year olds. Came in this afternoon to the field house, arguing about what color they wanted their jerseys to be.”

“I can only imagine,” Obi-Wan said with a slight laugh, “Anakin likes a good purple.”

“I think they settled on Tie-Dye,” Rex said, looking up again, “Team Explosion!” He mimed an explosion with the hand not holding his bowl, and even Cody had to smile at that. “You coaching this year, Codes?”

Obi-Wan knew for a fact that Rex was the only person who could call Cody Codes without retribution. Cody was technically already a nickname, but Cody said that Dakota Fett wasn’t his speed at all and hadn’t been since he was three. Each of his brothers--Waxer and Boil as a pair--had a specific nickname beyond Cody; Rex, though, was the only one to use his consistently. Even so, Obi-Wan registered the narrowed eyes of irritation again.

“You coach youth soccer?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I used to Coach Gree’s team when he was a little kid and I just kept doing it,” Cody explained, “The kids love it, and I love the kids.”

Obi-Wan pictured Cody out on the field, watching the heads of his team bob around the field like a swarm of fish in their matching jerseys, the image making his heart swell unexpectedly.

“Plus those grape slushies he buys the kids when they win are fantastic,” Rex added, now almost fully engrossed in his television show.

“I also buy them those when they lose,” Cody said, rolling his eyes.

“Either way: Delicious.”

“Well I’d love to come support Team…”

“Team Tornado!” Rex said, making a whooshing sound with his mouth. “Dark green jerseys,” he added with his mouthful though Obi-Wan could hear the bottom of the bowl scraping Rex’s spoon. “In case you wanted to show out.”

“Our first game is in two Saturdays,” Cody said, “I’ll get you a schedule.” He added, and followed as Obi-Wan started for the door.

“Goodnight, Rex.” He called as they stepped outside.

“Goodnight, Professor!” Was the reply followed by the sound of a high-speed car chase starting on screen.

Obi-Wan had often wondered how he had ended up in certain situations. What factors of his life had coincided so perfectly as to bring him to his current placement in the universe, oftentimes in places or with people he never expected. This was one such occasion in which the universe seemed to have aligned strangely and he found himself at the city youth soccer fields, sitting on a set of cold, metal, outdoor bleachers among a crowd of screaming parents yelling at children to play harder when the children themselves hardly came up to Obi-Wan’s waist.

The woman next to him, a single mother of the center-forward on Cody’s team had taken a special interest in him, one that he could tell was hardly innocent, though she did respect the fact that he seemed to want space. He finally put a stop to that entirely when she asked, “Which one is yours?” And his response was, “The coach.”

After that, she had still been friendly, but when she offered him a cup of hot coffee from the carafe she had brought, there was no tinge of flirtation there any longer.

From what Obi-Wan could tell, the kids were playing as well as could be expected for seven-year-old in slippery grass. The early hour meant that the morning dew had hardly had any time to dry and there was more than one stumble on uncertain legs. In a matter of only half an hour, Cody had been an encouraging coach, a first responder with a pack of Disney Band-Aids at the ready, and a staunch defender when he thought the referee had made an unfair call. He had also, according to the woman next to him, paid an extra eight dollars per kid to get their last names on the back of their jerseys, and had ordered a number 12 “Fett” jersey for himself to wear.

Obi-Wan watched him as he moved up and down the sidelines of the field, following the ball and switching out kids as they got tired or had been in for a long time so that everyone got the chance to play. Obi-Wan admired that, and he admired the way Cody looked in his casual athletic wear. When the game ended, the Tornadoes emerged victorious over the Eagles, and Cody’s team swarmed around him in a cheering mob. He high-fived them as Obi-Wan watched, and then ushered all of them to the stands to ask permission to indulge in post-game grape slushies that Rex had eluded to weeks earlier.

“Can I tempt you with some sugar syrup and ice?” Cody said to Obi-Wan, walking over to where he was sitting on the bleachers, his head level with Cody’s neck.

“Why do you think I came all this way?”

Cody laughed, offering him a hand to get him down from the bleachers. When Obi-Wan was safely down, he offered him his hand again. Holding hands wasn’t a new behavior, obviously, but doing so in front of dozens of parents and small children was certainly a new experience. Smiling at him, blinking against the cold October wind that was blowing his hair across his face, Obi-Wan took it and followed Cody to the stand where they were selling concessions.

A small horde of children fell in behind them, still talking about their goals scored and triumphs over the Eagles team. Their coach, a smiling man with heavy hair braids, evidently had the same grape slushie policy as Cody because they had already arrived at the concession stand the tornadoes came in their swarm. Obi-Wna only hoped that the college-age looking concession workers were being paid enough to endure this.

“Coach Cody?” One of the little boys on Cody’s team was tugging on his sleeve, his sleeves on his jersey so overlarge that what was supposed to only cover his elbow came all the way to his wrist. “Who’s that?”

The little boy looked up at Obi-Wan with curious eyes, giving him a smile that showed a missing front tooth. “Zak,” Cody said, “This is Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, this is Zak, this is his second year on my team.”

“Hello there,” Obi-Wan said, and Zak smiled harder than Obi-Wan had seen. “Nice to meet you.”

“Are you a coach, too?” Zak asked, swaying a bit on his feet.

“Obi-Wan is my boyfriend,” said Cody, and Zak nodded, “But no, he’s not a coach.” Well, Obi-Wan had to think to himself, boyfriend didn’t sound so silly when Cody said it.

“My brother and sister are coaching the Explosion Team,” Obi-Wan added, and Zak’s eyes got even bigger.

“We play them next weekend!” He then narrowed his eyes in instant suspicion, “Are you gonna root for them or us?”

“I’m firmly Team Tornado,” Obi-Wan assured him, and Zak seemed satisfied, walking back over to a gaggle of his teammates waiting impatiently for their turn at the window. Obi-Wan thought he heard him say, “That’s Coach Cody’s boyfriend!” to the waiting onlookers and had to assume that Zak had been designated as the person to get the scoop on his sudden appearance. He turned again to Cody to make a short quip, but was interrupted the appearance of Rex, jogging up next to them in a striped referee shirt, whistle hitting his chest.

“You ordered yet, Codes?”

“No, we’re after Coach Fisto,” He pointed at the smiling man with the long braids who was handing out cups of slushie as fast as the poor girl working the window could make them. The kids were moving in a swarm, apparently not totally disheartened by their defeat.

“Perfect,” Rex said slapping him on the back, “I’ll take one.” Before he turned to jog off again.

“I can’t keep supporting your habit, Rex!” Cody yelled after him.

“I have three more games to ref today. Be supportive!” His brother answered, heading for a nearby field where kids were starting to line up on the field. Obi-Wan was reminded of the one summer that Qui-Gon had encouraged him to play teeball, and the park where they played hadn’t staggered the games at all, causing clogs in the parking lot and at the concession stand and the bathrooms and everywhere anywhere was trying to go. That, combined with the fact that neither he nor his mother cared much for teeball had put a swift end to that as a favored activity. Middle school track and field had been better; high school swimming had been best and was still his preferred method of exercise.

“Alright, Tornadoes,” Cody released his hand to corral the children, who silenced at once. “Line up, single file.” Obi-Wan watched as the twelve of them jockeyed for position, letting Katooni, who had scored most of their goals, get in line first.

“Hello, Barriss,” Cody said to the girl working the counter who, to her benefit, did give her a smile. “Can I get fifteen of the small slushies please?”

“You want the grape?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Obi-Wan worked dutifully to help hand out the slushes as fast the two workers could make them, but he was distracted. Barriss. He knew that name; but he had never seen this woman before in his life. He had a horrible thought that maybe she was in one of his classes and he just hadn’t noticed, but that didn’t seem right. He was starting to wonder if it was all in his head, but she seemed on the verge of asking him something.

“That’ll be seven-fifty, Coach Cody,” She said, and Cody handed her a ten and five, which she looked at quizzically.

“Keep the rest of that, seems like its might be a long day.” She grinned, waving the five at the boy who was refilling the grade dispenser behind her.

“Thanks!” She said, “That’ll buy us some lunch later.” She tucked the change us the metal box they were using, and turned to Obi-Wan.

“Are you Obi-Wan Kenobi?” She asked, and Obi-wan’s eyes widened. At least he wasn’t crazy.

“Yes! I thought I recognized your name.”

“I’m dating your sister Ahsoka,” She said in explanation. “It’s nice to meet you.” She stuck a hand out which Obi-Wan shook.

“Lovely to meet you, too. I’m sorry Ahsoka couldn’t be here.”

“I’ll see her later. Explosion has the 2 o’clock slot today.” And she turned to help the next wave of customers that came up as another game finished on one of the nearby courts. He stepped away, taking a sip of his grape slushie, walking with Cody who was holding Rex’s slushie as well as his own. They had to wait until the quarter was over (a whole minute and a half since the kids were so young) and Obi-Wan spent the time trying to decide if he actually liked the grape slushie or if it was simply sating the nostalgia of his inner six year old.

Rex grabbed his cup, clapping Cody on the shoulder in thanks and nodding good-bye to Obi-Wan before he went back to the game, lining up the ball to start the second quarter for the kids, his lips already turning a deep purple.

“He refs for extra cash. City pays $45 a game.” Obi-Wan whistled at that as they walked back to the car, but thinking of the angry parents he had seen at some of these events, realized that should probably be even higher, even if technically the game only lasted twenty-five minutes.

“I can’t believe Ahsoka’s girlfriend works here,” Obi-Wan said as they climbed into his car. He had picked Cody up bright at early at five after 8 that morning so they could make the nine o’clock game time, and even though it was barely past ten now, he felt like it had been a very busy day already. He let his half-consumed grape slushie slide into the cupholder in favor squeezing Cody’s leg just above the knee before returning his hands to the wheel.

“That was unexpected,” Cody said, chuckling into his cup. “Barriss is good kid, she’s been working the concession stand since she was in high school.”

“Does she go to the university?”

“She did for a while, but I think she goes to the culinary institute now. Works here everyday of the week that there are games.”

“I hope Ahsoka isn’t mad at me for that,” Obi-Wan thought it might not have been his imagination when Cody reached a hand up to grab the security bar when he had to press his brakes a little too tight to keep from hitting a poorly parallel parked town car as he drove them towards Cody’s apartment.

“That you met her girlfriend?” Cody shook his head, setting his now empty cup in the holder. “I worked with one of Rex’s girlfriends at the office for two months before I ever knew they were dating. You were polite; she won’t care.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Obi-Wan said, pulling into a soft stop on the street by Cody’s complex. “Did you still want to go the late movie tonight?”

“If you’re buying the popcorn,” Cody winked over at him, unbuckling his seatbelt to climb out of the car.

“It’s the least I can do to repay this delicacy,” Obi-Wan lifted his cup from the holder, the watery syrup sloshing around slightly with the motion. Cody laughed, a deep rich laugh that made Obi-Wan want the evening to arrive even faster, even if he did have a million things to do in the interim. Cody leaned over, pressing a kiss to his lips before climbing out the car.

“All right, well, I love you and I’ll see you later tonight.” The door shut with the forward motion of Cody’s arm and what had been an intended goodbye, but neither of them moved. Cody stood outside the car, as if considering the weight of what he had said. Obi-Wan sat still, watching him, hand on the gear shift, pure terror and joy and exhilaration running through him.

After a minute of agonizing waiting, the door reopened. Cody’s head reappeared, his front half leaning into Obi-Wan’s car. He looked at a loss for words, caught between wanting to admit it was true and apologizing for saying it, but before he could say something that met those expectations, Obi-Wan interrupted him.

“I love you, too.” He said, and shock flooded Cody’s face. And they were kissing and Obi-Wan decided that maybe the grape slushie really didn’t taste so bad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks!  
> There will definitely be more than 4 chapters, just a heads up :D
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support so far! 
> 
> As always, I hoep you enjoy! Please R and R :) 
> 
> And, as always, you can find me on tumblr at this same name. I'm always down to talk shop or STar Wars!

“It’s the championship, game, Obi-Wan!” Anakin looked positively indignant, almost dropping the flimsy tray of nachos he was holding. “You can’t root for the opposing team!”

“I don’t know if you can see my jersey, Anakin,” Obi-Wan held up his arms, “But I’m clearly a Tornado.” The jersey had arrived a few weeks into his tenure as the Tornadoes’ most reliable fan after showing up consistently for Saturday games, and he had especially won their affections when he had been able to help Ganodi with her sprained ankle until the actual rec center medic was able to get out to them. The children, Cody informed him, had started to wonder why he didn’t also come to their Tuesday practices and referred to him as “OB” since they could not keep his first and last name organized. The jersey had been delivered to his office at school and matched theirs to a tee, with TORNADOES in small white letters across the chest, Kenobi written across the back top, though his number was OB-1 instead of an actual number. No matter how cold it had gotten as they had approached the championship that was the Saturday before Thanksgiving, he had worn it every game since and been careful to avoid spilling the traditional grape slushie on it, though there had certainly been some close calls.

“Padme! Back me up here!” But Padme was laughing too hard to say anything, passing Obi-Wan the pack of M&M’s she had gotten at the concession stand so he could dump a few out in his hand.

“I already wore this ridiculous shirt, Anakin,” She shrugged, “What more can you ask for?” It was true, the shirt that Padme was wearing did look quite ridiculous. It was, Obi-Wan was fairly certain, from the Aquarium gift shop and had all sorts of wild colors in a bright tye-dye spiral. It was too large on her, which made Obi-Wan think it was actually Anakin’s which made sense since Anakin owned many ridiculous things. Such as the wrap-around rain goggles that he and Ahsoka had worn when the kids had played the Tornadoes in a light drizzle during the regular season. They had looked like poorly disguised, tie-dye wearing, spies and to add to the entire look they had given the entire team swim goggles to wear to shield against the rain. One of the more memorable games, in Obi-Wan’s opinion.

“A brother who isn’t a traitor,” Anakin huffed, waving his arms dramatically before storming back away to where Ahsoka was corralling their team to get ready to go out on the field as soon as the five and six year old championships were done.

“I married the most dramatic man to ever walk the Earth,” Padme popped another M&M into her mouth and rolled her eyes, but Obi-Wan could see the softness at the corner of her eyes as Anakin ruffled the curly hair of one of the kids who tugged on his jersey.

“I wish I could argue with that assessment,” Obi-Wan said, and looked over at Cody who was crouched down with his team in a huddle, trying to encourage them. They had lost to Explosion during the season, but Obi-Wan knew that Cody had been working to reassure them that didn’t mean they had to lose again. “One of the best though.” He said absentmindedly, thinking both of Cody and of his brother.

“You’re right about that,” She agreed, “He’s going to be a great dad.”

Obi-Wan blinked, and turned to her, eyes wide. She was blushing deep, which made him think that she certainly hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Someday.” She said, “That’s what I meant.”

“Of course,” Obi-Wan said, and she looked so relieved that he knew he wouldn’t push it. She offered him more M&M’s and he took them happily, offering her some of the Sour Patch Kids he had gotten mostly because Cody liked them a lot and Obi-Wan liked the orange ones enough to make the pack worth it.

“All right,” Rex came onto the field as the other teams cleared off, a mix of ecstatic and dejected first-graders, all of whom were certainly headed for the concession stand for post-game slushies and then to some pizza place or ice cream parlor in town for an end of season celebration where they’d get trophies and ribbons and either celebrate winning or forget about losing. “Tornado and Explosion to the field!” He blew his whistle loud, jogging to the sideline to grab the ball.

“WHAT TEAM?” Anakin’s yell was so loud Obi-Wan swore he could hear it vibrating the bleachers underneath him. But all of the children gathered around him and Ahsoka roared back with equal enthusiasm.

“EXPLOSION!” They yelled and all of them mimed explosions, making loud whoosing noises and waving their arms before running onto the field in a not very organized bundle.

Team Tornado’s entry was far less dramatic, with a “1…2…3…TORNADOES!” led by Cody where everyone threw up their hands in a circle. But the kids were no less enthusiastic as they took to the field to face their opponents. Obi-Wan didn’t think he had ever seen such looks of grim determination on the faces of small children, and for a moment, he wondered if that should worry them all more than it did.

But it was too late to worry as Rex’s whistle blew and Team Explosion took the first charge. But the Tornadoes had practiced for that (Anakin’s primary strategy was running the ball straight down the middle of the field with whatever kid got to it first—surprisingly effective most of the time) and stopped it before they got to the goal. They went back and forth, back and forth, Anakin and Cody yelling out encouragement while Ahsoka went to the other side of the field to do the same and spot when kids needed to be switched out as they got winded. This, Obi-Wan noticed, she did for Cody as well which he could tell was appreciated. By the end of the first quarter, neither team had scored.

“I told Anakin that if all I did the whole game was run back and forth on the same patch of grass the whole time, that would drive me crazy,” Padme said as the same kid went by them with the ball for the fourth in less than two minutes.

“I can’t say much,” Obi-Wan admitted, “I did high school swimming. Lot of moving between the same two walls.”

Padme laughed at that before digging in her purse to find some gloves to put on. Obi-Wan understood that, his fingers were freezing cold and the woman who had given him coffee every Saturday since the start of the season to stay warm with had apologized but said that they had gotten such a late start that morning that she hadn’t had time to make it. He missed the feeling, especially with the cold fall air blowing into the arms of his jersey.

The jam passed quickly though, with only seven minute quarters, and Obi-Wan found himself caught up in the excitement that was taking over the crowd. There were several near-misses and finally, some accumulated goals. But in the last minute, the game was tied 2-2, and one of the kids on Explosion was throwing the ball in after Katooni had kicked it out of bounds.

“Steal the ball!” Cody yelled, and Obi-Wan wanted to yell right there with him. Padme could tell and was smiling next to him, trying to hide it with her hand. He had not anticipated being this invested, and certainly not expected the tension he felt now, watching as Katooni (by far the best player on the Tornadoes team) jumped in front of the ball as the Explosion boy threw it in bounds and took off down the field with it to try and score. Obi-Wan gripped his own knees hard as he watched her run, but knew she wouldn’t make it; two of Anakin and Ahsoka’s kids—twins judging by the look of them—were going to block her path.

Right before they could close in; however, she passed the ball, kicking it almost the width of the field to Zak who was wide open. He stumbled and Obi-Wan resisted the urge to close his eyes, but was so glad he kept them open as half the field erupted in cheers when the ball Zak kicked rolled just over the line of the goal. At Rex’s whistle, the game ended seconds later and the Torandoes stormed Zak, all cheering at the little boy who looked like both like he had won the lottery and like he was caught in a crossfire.

“I better go,” Padme whispered, looking over at Anakin’s dejected team who were walking slowly towards him. He seemed to have retained his high spirits; however, stopping each kid to personally compliment them on what they had done well and insisting on a high five. By the time they had gathered in a huddle, all of the kids—even the goalie who had let the score in—was smiling.

“Me, too,” Obi-Wan agreed, climbing down the bleachers to where Cody was calling the field off the team so Rex could ready it for the eight and nine year old championship game starting in the next few minutes. They whooped and hollered, crowding around them and Obi-Wan found it hard to resist swopping Zak up onto his shoulders in celebration. It was good enough though as Cody held them back so that Explosion could get in line first for their slushies. It was good sportsmanship, he told the kids, who were far too happy to care that they had to wait an extra few minutes. Especially when they were all going to Ice Cream Parlor later that evening for the end of season celebration.

Obi-Wan tossed the last paper cup of the season into the parking lot trash can as they walked by it, feeling a little nostalgic for the bit of grape syrup that had been left at the bottom of the cup. Part of him was glad for his Saturday mornings back, another part of him couldn’t wait for the spring season to start.

* * *

If someone had told Obi-Wan that Cody had simply one day sprouted, fully formed, from his father’s head, he might have believed them. Though Jango Fett was older, in his sixties, he still looked a remarkably like his son. Same body build, same hazel eyes, even the same, slightly spotty facial hair that Cody grew when he didn’t shave for a few days, though Jango’s was longer and liberally flecked with gray. Despite his rather severe appearance, there was a certain warmth to him. Obi-Wan suspected he was happy to have all of his children home for the holidays.

Cody’s other brothers, who were milling around the house in such an efficient way that Obi-Wan felt like more like he was in the way than anything else, all looked like there father but to varying degrees and Obi-Wan had the bizarre impression of a Russian nesting doll. Rex had his blonde hair (though Obi-Wan was almost certain that was a result of hair dye) and darker eyes, the twins looked remarkably similar, but were smaller in build than Cody or Rex, Fives had bright green eyes and a goatee that was neatly trimmed to his face. The most different was Gree, who in addition to being the youngest and smallest, also had hair that was tinged slightly red and much darker eyes than the others. He was sitting at the kitchen table, two seats away from Obi-Wan, putting together a model with pieces so small that Obi-Wan could hardly see them unless he lifted them on his screwdriver.

Gree was the only brother who did not seem to have been busying themselves the final preparations for dinner, though Cody’s father had seemingly finished his part after getting several racks of ribs out of the oven to rest on the stove. Obi-Wan had added his aluminum foil covered dish of cinnamon rolls (a double batch after seeing Anakin’s enthusiastic consumption of them) with a bit of sheepishness after seeing the mountain of food that was accumulating. The ribs, of course, but also what looked like a massive container of creamed corn, a rack of baked potatoes, perfectly risen yeast rolls, green beans, stewed tomatoes, and other things that were held under wraps. Obi-Wan had attended large family dinners before, especially when Qui-Gon was alive and would invite what he considered “interesting” cousins over to the house, but never something like this.

There was an energy in the air here, buzzing with a warmth and a love that reminded Obi-Wan of his days spent with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme. For all the nervousness he could feel radiating from Cody and that he had felt himself before coming over, he now felt oddly at peace, sitting at the beautiful, antique wooden table, nursing a glass of bourbon lemonade that Cody’s father had fixed him.

“Do you mind if I ask what you’re making?” Obi-Wan said, but Gree kept his head bent low over his model. Ahsoka told him that Gree had come to campus to tour the Aerospace engineering program room and that her physics professor had said he was one of the most enthusiastic aspiring physicists he had met in his career, if not the most enthusiastic.

“Gree!” Cody’s voice startled his brother, making him drop the tiny screwdriver he was holding with a huff. He looked at Cody expectantly, his face clearly asking what had the audacity to be so important so as to interrupt him at his work. Cody softened his tone, “Obi-Wan asked you what you were making.”

“Oh,” Gree moved his gaze to Obi-Wan and then immediately dropped his eyes, his eye contact sporadic at best. “It’s a completely to-scale replica of the Challenger Shuttle.”

“Pre-explosion, I hope,” Obi-Wan said, without thinking. Instant panic set in and he was worried Gree would be offended, but instead he grinned and caught Obi-Wan’s gaze for another second.

“Definitely Pre-explosion,” He said, and then lifted a tiny white circle with the end of the screwdriver he had picked up off his work mat, “Even comes with the faulty O rings. You think they would have learned the first time.”

“Son, could you take that into the other table please, its time for dinner.” Jango Fett reappeared at Cody’s side, looking at Gree who let out another small huff but didn’t protest. He laid the O-Ring carefully back into its place in the set of tiny pieces of space shuttle before he lifted the mat with the utmost care to carry it into the other room.

“You know, my brother Anakin used to build model cars. Racers and things like that.” He informed Cody and his father, who nodded slowly.

“Gree has always liked learning about space,” Cody’s father said in a rumbling voice that said he was proud, “He said your sister gave him a tour of the Aerospace building on campus.”

“Ahsoka told me they were very impressed by his enthusiasm.”

Cody’s father did what Obi-Wan assumed was the closest thing to a broad smile that he did, both sides of his mouth turning up as his eyes moved to where Gree had walked out of the room. Obi-Wan could almost feel the pride radiating off of him.

“I’m going to get your brothers,” He said to Cody, “It’s time to eat. As our guest,” He spoke to Obi-Wan again, “I insist you fix your plate first.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, and looked at Cody who gave a tiny nod, “Well, thank you.” As Jango stepped out into the hallway to yell for the rest of his sons to join them, Cody led them into the kitchen.

“Thanks for talking to Gree; he worries about irritating people by talking too much.”

“I’ll take an interesting conversation about something someone’s passionate about over small talk any day,” Obi-Wan said casually, waiting on Cody to had him a plate and bowl from the cabinet as he heard the thunder of multiple footsteps in the dining room.

“That’s why I love you,” Cody said, his head in the cabinet before remerging with a massive stack of plates in both hands that he set on the counter, followed by a similar stack of ceramic bowls. Obi-Wan let himself swell with a bit of happiness. IT had been almost a month since Cody had said that to him the first time but in the dozens of times that he had said it since it had not lost its ability to give Obi-Wan the small touch of butterflies he felt now in his stomach. “And it will go a long way with dad. Everyone else, too.”

The door to the kitchen opened and Waxer, Boil, and Fives pushed in seemingly all at once, followed by Gree who was running his hands over his glow-in-the-dark graphic shirt as if to smooth out the wrinkles, then Rex, and finally Jango who had his hand on Rex’s shoulder as they all lined up behind Obi-Wan in the line for food. He felt vaguely self-conscious choosing his food and was grateful when Cody described things (such as Waxer’s broccoli and chorizo casserole) that he had never seen before. In the end, his plate was heaped with a variety of things and his bowl was filled with what seemed to be a spicy lentil tortilla soup.

He was only by himself at the table for a few minutes before Cody came to sit down beside him, taking disappearing again to get them both glasses of ice water to offer an alternative to drinking only the cocktail with dinner. The rest came along in short order, with Cody’s father bringing up the rear, and they all sat down to officially start dinner.

Waxer and Boil were arguing over what Obi-Wan assumed was the phone app that they were working on creating; something about coding for a direct link payment system, but Cody’s father silenced them with a look after only a minute. “So,” He turned to Obi-Wan, “Tell us about yourself, Dr. Kenobi. We only know what Cody has said.”

“Dad…” Cody said under his breath, probably directed at his father for forcing his boyfriend to talk, especially when he had just taken a bite of what he thought might be the most delicious ribs he had ever eaten. But Obi-Wan didn’t mind, in fact he had been wondering what he was going to say to inevitably introduce himself to everyone but Cody and Rex, who was sitting on his other side.

“It’s fine, Cody. And please call me Obi-Wan,” Obi-Wan said, covering his chewing with his napkin before speaking. He was conscious that everyone was listening to him, but could also hear the scraping of forks and spoons on the dishware and knew he wasn’t being scrutinized. They wanted to meet him, and, he knew with a feeling a delight, he wanted to know them. “I teach both graduate and undergraduate courses in history and political theory at Coruscant University. That’s actually how Cody and I met.”

He looked over at Cody, thinking of their seemingly innocuous first encounter when he had given Cody directions to the classroom he was supposed to be guest lecturing in. He had wondered often how different life would be now if he had chosen to eaten the container of soup he had brought from home for lunch that day instead of going out with the rest of the department to Dex’s.

“Cody said you went stargazing on your first date,” Obi-Wan registered the flashes of surprise on everyone’s face as Gree spoke up from the end of the table, looking towards Obi-Wan. “I’ve always wanted to go, but its usually when I’m at the pizza parlor.” Gree, Cody had told him, worked as a cook in the kitchen of the Toydarian pizza parlor in downtown to save money for college.

“We did,” Obi-Wan said in agreement, “My father was a bit of an amateur astronomist. He actually tried to get a permit to build an observation deck on his house.” Gree perked up at that, sparing a glance at Jango who looked more intrigued than anything, “He couldn’t get the licensing, but he did install a set of telescopes under the carport, though, and my sister Ahsoka loves to use them.”

“Dad got me a 114 EQ Reflector Astromaster last year,” The enthusiasm in Gree’s voice was evident, “I’ve been making star charts three times a month to track the constellation movements.”

“That’s fascinating,” If Obi-Wan wasn’t mistaken, there was a strange tension in the room, as if everyone else were waiting with bated breath. Regardless, he continued, “You know, next spring that the history department will be hosting a traveling exhibit about John Harrison that includes his original star charts. They’re bringing over some of them from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.”

“Really?” Gree met his eyes again, this time holding his gaze, eyes shining.

“Really,” Obi-Wan said, forking another bite of rib, “They’re bringing one of his original chronometers as well. It’s free and open to the public; if you like astronomy you should definitely go see it.”

“I’m hoping to be in school there next year if financial aid works out,” Gree said, looking down at his plate again, “I’ll go see it then!” He said with a finality that made it seem to Obi-Wan that his decision on the topic was made. Gree seemed done with the conversation after that, and Obi-Wan used the moment to take another large bite of food. He glanced around the table, wanting to ask who made the creamed corn and if he could get the recipe, and noticed that all of them except Gree were looking at him with the same expression. He looked to Cody who pressed a gentle squeeze to his knee under the table, and to Jango Fett who was smiling even as he chewed. Obi-Wan smiled back, a little uncertain, but happy to know that he had officially been accepted into this small circle. At least for now.

The rest of dinner passed in a bit of a blur, with Waxer and Boil explaining the basic outline of their new phone app that seemed to be an electronic banking service that would allow for cross fund transfers between banks and equity accounts that would limit transaction cost tenfold. “We have to make the code for both mobile and desktop so its tedious,” Waxer had explained while Boil had then explained that they were also purchasing a big rig trailer hauler as the beginning of a capital investment and a way to pair their rent so Waxer didn’t have to keep working for the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Fives apparently managed (and as of the next week would be part owner of) one of the new bars in downtown--which Obi-Wan thought was very impressive considering that Fives was only twenty one years old—and was a journeyman welder with one more year until his Masters licensing. Gree piped up on occasion to ask Obi-Wan a question about the university, but most of his questions were about either the traveling exhibit or departments that Obi-Wan knew little about, but he otherwise seemed very content to carefully pick apart his ribs and corn.

He had been right to make a double batch of cinnamon rolls, no one else had made a dessert with the exception of the gallon of vanilla ice cream that Cody’s father and Gree had in the freezer, so they were a very popular choice. Waxer and Boil did reheat and serve them out with scoops of melting ice cream to everyone, a choice which Obi-Wan very much approved of, even though Cody had to dab a little dot of melted cream out of his beard. They ate their dessert on a massive wraparound couch in the living room while watching _Interstellar_ , which Obi-Wan had never seen.

He shared a cushion with Cody, leaning with his back pressed to Cody’s chest and their ankles intertwined. He had expected Rex to sit on his other side, as he had at dinner, but Gree did instead, eyes fixed on the movie. It was a long movie, perhaps not one that Obi-Wan would have chosen on his own, but between the warm feeling of sitting pressed against Cody so casually, surrounded by his boyfriend’s family that he liked very much, and Gree explaining all of the logical fallacies or innovations as they came up, it was far from a bad experience. When the end credits were rolling, Jango herded the rest of the family into the kitchen to assist with clean up and Cody pressed first a kiss and then his cheek to Obi-Wan’s temple.

“We can go whenever you’re ready,” He said, “I hope this hasn’t been too much.”

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready to get up from this couch,” Obi-Wan answered honestly. He was still very full from dinner and dessert, and it was hard to want to move away from the warm feeling of Cody’s arms wrapped around him. “Last time I got to lean on you for this long we were celebrating the Torandoes league championship.”

It was true, after Cody’s team had defeated Anakin and Ahsoka’s by only one goal in the final league championship and all the whole team trophy celebrations were finished, all of them plus Padme and Barriss had a late fall bonfire to celebrate the end of the season. Stretching out in front of the fire, leaning back into Cody’s embrace had been an extremely gratifying experience.

“If we don’t get up soon, my dad is going to make you play Mah Jong. And trust me, you don’t want that.”

Obi-Wan groaned in protest, but stood in one fluid movement, offering a hand back to help Cody out of the confines of the deep-set couch cushions. They made their way to the kitchen, Obi-Wan collecting his glass dish where Boil had just finished drying it.

“We’re going to head out, guys,” Cody spoke first, and everyone turned to the pair of them.

“It was wonderful finally getting to meet everyone. Good luck on your app,” Obi-Wan nodded to Boil and Waxer. “And the bar,” He said to Fives who gave a half smile remarkably similar to Cody’s back to him. “And Gree, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help as you’re thinking about school. I’m happy to do it.”

“Thanks,” Gree said and smiled, stacking the carefully dried plates.

“And thank you for having me over,” Obi-Wan said to Cody’s father who considered him for a moment before he stepped forward. Obi-Wan shifted his dish, preparing to shake his hand and instead found himself enveloped in a hug.

“You’re welcome back anytime. Right, boys?”

“Yes, sir!” Came a rehearsed chorus from the men in the dining room, and Obi-Wan smiled even though Cody rolled his eyes.

“Let me know when you get home, Cody,” His father said, and Obi-Wan turned to follow Cody out of the house and into the late December evening.

* * *

“What is this ticket for?” Ahsoka had reached the final present on her small stack of Christmas gifts, and looked up at her brothers quizzically. Obi-Wan could barely contain the secret that had been threatening to burst out of his chest. At first, he had felt a little bad about the small number of gifts Ahsoka had in comparison to the rest of them, but this gift would make up for all of that. And the tickets were only the beginning.

“Obi-Wan, Padme, and I thought that you could put that to good use.”

Ahsoka pulled the ticket out of the box, plain white and otherwise innocuous. Her eyes narrowed to read the electronic print on the back side of the ticket, “Edinburgh Fringe Festival.” She said, her voice level until the very last syllable when it started to drop off. “Wait…how did you?”

“Keep digging in the box, Snips,” Anakin said, but both he and Padme were grinning, though Padme was at least trying to hide it. The best Obi-Wan had been able to charm out of the people at the final aid office was a confirmation of payment, but with a little embellishing, the piece of paper that Ahsoka was unfolding looked decent enough he thought.

“You guys…you all…you paid my Edinburgh tuition?”

“Keep going,” Obi-Wan couldn’t help it. She pulled out one more slip of a paper, a set of plane tickets—one to Edinburgh and one back home at the end of the next fall semester (just in time for the holidays).

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

She lifted a hand to her face, wiping at her nose as tears came to her eyes. Obi-Wan felt a warmth bloom in his chest, the excited tension dissipating into something much more full. She had gotten accepted into the program right around November, but the cost of the tuition (even though it was subsidized by the college) and the plane tickets to and from were presenting a real issue. Obi-Wan put money into her account every month, but there were room and board costs that had to be paid, fees and charges, parking passes, textbooks, lab fees, and everything else she needed to pay. She had come over to his apartment by herself one night and had cried, afraid that Anakin would be disappointed if she turned the offer down.

But Obi-Wan had already had a plan in mind, encouraged her to see how much she could save between her job in the campus library and her internship the following summer to cover the cost while at the same time cashing in one of the bonds that his mother had purchased for him when he was only a little child that had matured to be worth just enough to cover the tuition fees for the program. When he told Anakin his plan, his brother confessed that he and Padme had been setting aside money every month since Ahsoka had first mentioned the trip during spring semester in case she needed help. With a bit of careful shopping, they had gotten her plane tickets.

“I can pay you back,” She said, waving the paper, “I’ve already got an interview at a restaurant in town.”

“Take the job if you want,” Obi-Wan said, “But you aren’t paying us back for that. It’s a gift.”

She was crying freely now and leapt off the couch, setting the box down carefully before first wrapping him, and then Anakin and Padme into a pair of massive hugs. Her excitement was palpable and the whole house was flooded with enough joy to match the lights on the Christmas tree and the Menorah that shone in the window, even though it was early in the morning. Obi-Wan could hardly remember a happier Christmas himself, or a more beautiful one. The snow had started falling early that season, around the first of December rather than later on in the year, and the ground outside was covered in a thick layer of it that sparkled in the sun and melted and refroze into long, pointed, clear icicles that hung off of every surface they could cling to.

He had always loved winter time, and though Anakin teased him it was because it was a good excuse to wear sweaters (like the soft, dark blue one he had one currently), it was because the cold air meant a certain kind of warmth in other things. Longer touches, softer blankets, more time to enjoy the quieter moments when everything was muted outside. And he adored days like this, spent with his family celebrating a year together.

They had gotten him very nice things: A suede jacket, a screwdriver set, and a pair of soccer cleats from Anakin and Padme as well as some small trinkets (many of which it seemed Anakin had made), a new Coruscant University Quarter Zip from Ahsoka in addition to a giftcard to Dexter’s and a coupon for a “Free Upgrade Day” from Anakin who had been itching to get his hands on Obi-Wan’s car since he had bought it. Best of all was the framed picture that Padme had given him: Identical to the ones she had given Anakin and Ahsoka, which they all unwrapped at the same time. It was a picture that Obi-Wan had wanted a print of for a long time--but it had been ages since he had actually gotten pictures printed—of the day Ahsoka moved into school. One of the parents moving in their child that was walking by had taken it of the four of them in front of Ahsoka’s freshman dorm. They were somewhat ragged looking, sweaty from carrying in the refrigerator and stacks and stacks of clothes and books and bedding, but Obi-Wan had always loved that picture—a time when everything finally felt like it was going to get back on track.

“I actually have a second one for you, Obi-Wan,” She said as Anakin went with Ahsoka to get a hammer and a nail so that they could hang his print up on the wall alongside so many of the other pictures. She handed him a picture, much smaller. “I thought it would be perfect for your desk.”

It was a picture that Obi-Wan had never seen before that moment, nor was it one that he was aware that Padme had taken. He was hand in hand with Cody, looking at the ground as they walked in their identical (at least on the front) Tornadoes soccer jerseys, their free hands occupied with half-full purple slushie cups. Cody however, was turned towards him, and Obi-Wan felt his heart hammering as took in the expression on Cody’s face. As he himself was looking towards the ground in the picture, Cody was looking at him, his expression soft and his smile wide. Cody smiled often, but smiles like those were a rare thing indeed, and the fact that Obi-Wan had never known about the one that day made him want to call Cody immediately.

“Anakin told me I shouldn’t have even taken the picture, but I couldn’t help it,” Padme said, sipping on her hot chocolate and craning to look around Obi-Wan’s head to make sure Anakin wasn’t going to hurt himself or the house hanging up the picture.

“I love it,” He said, and laid it carefully on top of his new jacket, “Thank you so much, Padme.”

“Of course!” She said, and their conversation stopped for a few moments as the hammering started.

“That’s not straight,” Obi-Wan heard Ahsoka say.

“You fix it then!”

“You have to move first!”

“Now, that’s not straight!”

“Yes, it is!”

In an effort to either ignore or cut them off, Padme turned again to Obi-Wan. “If you don’t mind my asking, what did you get Cody for the holidays?”

“Let me know if I should cover Ahsoka’s ears,” Anakin said as they returned to the living room. Ahsoka rolled her eyes, but Obi-Wan felt his cheeks redden all the same at the implication.

“I got him a windbreaker embroidered with the Tornadoes logo and his number and a new watch,” Everyone nodded like that was a great gift, “And together, we’ve booked a cabin for President’s Day Weekend at Glacier National Park over near Naboo.”

“Oh, its beautiful over there,” Padme said, and Anakin nodded enthusiastically, reaching over to wrap his arm around Padme where she curled up into him and he stole a sip of her hot chocolate, leaving a thin layer on his upper lip. “That’s where Anakin and I went on our honeymoon.”

“It was only a weekend,” Anakin protested, but Padme just shook her head.

“You all will love it. Especially with all of the snow! Oh, it’ll be so beautiful!” Padme said dreamily, and then looked up at Anakin, “We should go back soon.”

“That I agree with,” He said, “Maybe the next time we go to your parents we can take a whole week. Spend half of it with them and the other half there?”

“As long as we don’t tell them that’s the plan,” Padme said, but Obi-Wan could tell she liked the idea. He let his thoughts drift to Cody, letting Anakin and Padme have a semi-private moment together (Ahsoka, it seemed, was messaging Barriss on her phone). Cody’s brothers were leaving the next morning for the most part. Waxer and Boil wanted to get back to their apartment before the post-holiday traffic and the real snow hit the capital on the 26th; Fives had work early on the 25th where the bar was open for its annual Christmas party. Before they left, they were all opening gifts at his father’s house.

Obi-Wan had gone shopping with Cody to pick up some last-minute things for them, though he had assured Cody that he hardly knew them well enough to do so. Cody informed him that it wasn’t exactly a difficult thing to do. Waxer and Boil were easy: Gift cards for food and for Netflix and two books, one on internet marketing and one on developing investment networks. Fives was easy, too: A two-month subscription to a modern shaving style monthly delivery box and a set of Bruce Springsteen CDs that they had found perusing the used bookstore. Rex was a bit harder, but eventually Cody had settled on buying him an afternoon at the battle axe throwing studio in downtown and a giftcard to the gelatoria that was right next to Rex’s work. His father had been a bit more difficult, but a guide to home composting and a DIY compost set had eventually been the end result of their trip to the home goods store. Then had come the time to shop for Gree, and this is where Obi-Wan had felt he had been the most helpful.

Cody had already told his father that his plan was to buy Gree a laptop that he could use for all of college (something his father protested due to the expense, but Cody had reasoned with him to let him help while he could) and with some help from Anakin on choosing a model, they had found a decently priced, good quality laptop that would hopefully last Gree the four years he needed it to. Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to help it, however, when he had gone to the college bookstore to look at things he might get for Ahsoka, and there had been a sweatshirt from the Aeronautics department, complete with a massive comet shooting across the front. “Reach for the Stars!” it had in swirling space-themed font and the University logo on the arm. He had wrapped it carefully and given it to Cody to give to him, a complete surprise to both him and Gree. He was dying to know how it had gone, but he and Cody wouldn’t be doing their Christmas celebrating until the next day when all of the family celebrations were over. On Christmas Day, he and Cody both were coming back to Anakin and Padme’s for a big family dinner.

“All right, Ahsoka,” Anakin’s voice broke him away from his imaginings. Ahsoka looked up from her phone, eyes on Anakin. “Put in a movie.”

“Which one?” Ahsoka asked, walking to the cabinet.

“How about the one where they bully that reindeer?”

“Anakin!”

“What, Padme? That’s what they do.”

“It’s Rudolph, Anakin. A beautiful story of personal triumph and accepting yourself.”

“Bullying and capitalistic exploitation.”

Obi-Wan snorted into his cup of cooling cocoa, determined not to be involved, wishing that the day wouldn’t end anytime soon. IT seemed that his wish was granted.

“Before we start the movie,” Padme said as Ahsoka sat back down, “Anakin and I have something we want to share.” Anakin looked confused for a moment, eyes fixed on the title screen of Rudolph, before recognition dawned on his face.

“Right!” He said, and smiled down at Padme who looked a cross between exasperated and glowing with happiness. “Padme is having a baby.”

There was a moment of complete silence before Ahsoka spoke, in almost a squeal, “Oh my god, congratulations!”

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, thinking back to right before Thanksgiving when Padme had accidentally hinted that this might be what was happening.

“We wanted to wait until I was twelve weeks to share with anyone,” She said, placing a hand on her stomach that was covered by an overlarge sweatshirt. “We’re so excited; they’re do in early June.”

“They?” Obi-Wan repeated, raising his eyebrows.

“Twins,” Anakin said, smiling as brightly as Obi-Wan had seen him ever smile. “We just found out on Monday.”

After another moment of quiet contentment, Padme spoke again, “Well,” She said, “Now that you all know, let’s watch our movie.”

Obi-Wan turned to watch Rudolph as his phone buzzed. No words, just a picture of Gree, sitting cross-legged on the floor with the sweatshirt Obi-Wan had gotten him already pulled on over his other clothes, the tag still hanging off the back as he unwrapped another gift. Having been working on his emojis, he sent back one of the smiley faces with teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer to the conclusion that I'm aiming for! 
> 
> Thank you all for your support so far! 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy! Please R and R :) I am considering doing some more mature rated outtakes of this story (doing my best to keep this firmly T rated); if you think that'd be interesting, I'd love to here your thoughts!
> 
> And, as always, feel free to stop by on tumblr. I'm always down to talk shop and Star Wars!

Obi-Wan blinked his eyes open to a roadside lined on both sides by trees, dusted with late February snow and ice crystals that hung like ornaments off of the needles of still green pine trees and the thick brown branches of others that had lost their leaves in the fall. He could hear the Brian Fallon playlist he had made Cody playing softly through the speakers of the car, not nearly loud enough to wake him up. He didn’t think anything in particular had woken him up besides the excitement that was sitting in his chest. He had been looking forward to this weekend since Christmas and not even the long slog of the semester in the dreary weather had been enough to dampen his spirits in the between time.

“Waking up?” Cody asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead even though it seemed they were the only ones on it today. “We’ll be there soon according to Google.”

“It is usually trustworthy,” Obi-Wan said as he stretched out his arms. “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

“I’m not,” Cody said, sparing a quick glance over at him, “The dark circles are gone.”

He lifted a hand to the side of Obi-Wan’s face, barely brushing the space under Obi-Wan’s eye with his thumb which Obi-Wan thought was quite impressive since Cody wasn't looking at him.

“Besides,” Cody added, “I’d much rather you be awake for the evening than the drive.” Obi-Wan smiled to himself, turning to watch the landscape pass outside the window. They certainly were close to the National Park and the small town on the outskirts of it where there were enough restaurants and gas stations and grocery stores to keep tourists entertained; he could tell by the sight of the mountain in the near distance, on the other side of which was the park and the lake.

“I noticed you’re listening to the music I sent you,” He said as the song switched. Cody, perhaps sensing a challenge, started to belt the soft song rather loudly and off key, until Obi-Wan laughed so loud that he half-snorted and both of them dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“Maybe I’ll let him sing it,” Cody said sheepishly after he had regained his ability to speak. “I like it though. Makes me think of you when I’m knee deep in gray water.”

“How romantic.”

“I’ll have to admit, it sounded better in my head.” He paused, “It makes me think of you other times, too.” He corrected himself softly.

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but smile at that.

They were able to park and check-in without any issue—the middle of February was hardly the most in-demand time of the year for a National Park who’s primary draw was the massive lake as the woman at the registration desk was happy to inform them. She did; however, give them coupons for a traditional Gungan barbeque restaurant in town and gave Cody the extra pillows he asked for without complaint. Their cabin was the very last in a cul de sac that faced the lake; two floors with a stone fireplace and broad windows that were just frosted at the corners.

It had two bedrooms, like all the cabins, and the main suite was massive. The comforters that had come with it looked hand quilted and were inlaid with appliques of bears and cabins and trees and was so soft that Obi-Wan thought he could sink into it with no problem. The bathroom was similarly decorated, but had a massive tub and separate shower to match the dual sinks. With everything they found out about the cabin, from the comfort of the couch to the stack of firewood behind the cabin so they could actually light the fireplace in the living room to the pool table that had bee put in the upstairs loft, he was more and more giddy that they had actually come away for the weekend. And he did not consider himself to be someone who was made giddy very easily.

The afternoon passed quickly with unloading their things from the car and packing away the drinks and breakfast foods they had brought in two of Anakin’s coolers, one of which smelled like beer and the other of which smelled like fish. Obi-Wan also put to chill the wine he had brought that Cody had raised a surprised eyebrow at but had looked pleased all the same. Obi-Wan knew he wasn’t much of a wine drinker, but he had been careful in choosing something he would like and something that paired well with the chocolate dipped strawberries he had made special at the chocolate shop in downtown and snuck into both the cooler and the fridge when Cody wasn’t looking. Chocolate covered strawberries, he had discovered, were easily Cody’s favorite dessert. And perfect, he felt, for a romantic first night on their first vacation.

By the time they had unloaded suitcases and doc kits from the car, they were both hungry enough to merit a trip into town. As they drove back out, only one of the other cabins looked occupied and Obi-Wan thought it might have been the caretaker's. They were alone for the weekend, truly alone. He didn’t mind the person who lived on the other side of his duplex, and he rather liked Rex, but this was a different sort of feeling. Not isolation…privacy, maybe? He wasn’t sure, but it was a good feeling that settled in his chest. Not thinking, he set out a hand that Cody took one hand off of the wheel and held with his own.

They didn’t eat Gungan barbeque, instead eating at one of the restaurants that Padme had recommended and Anakin had said, “Wasn’t disgusting,” which was as close to an endorsement as Obi-Wan told Cody that they could hope for. It was, after all, quite delicious with some of the best vegetable soup that Obi-Wan could remember having. On the way back, they picked up a water pitcher, trail mix, and an extra pack of condoms that turned into quite the ordeal as the hapless teenager working the counter couldn’t get the glass cabinet behind the desk open on his own. Obi-Wan expected to be tired when they returned to the cabin, but he wasn’t. He felt energized, the weight of the semester disappearing off of his shoulders, if only for three days.

“Let’s walk down to the lake.”

“It’s nighttime,” Cody protested, stamping the snow off of his boots.

“Are you afraid of the bears?” Obi-Wan asked with a teasing grin.

“If we do get eaten, I want you to remember that I tried to stop us.” But Cody was all smiles they stepped out the backdoor to the paves trail that led down to the lake. He took Obi-Wan’s hand in his own, warm through the fingerless gloves he was wearing (the same ones he wore for work so he could respond to emergency messages at the same time he fixed whatever problem there was) and sturdy as both of them took turns stumbling slightly on places where the pavement had been undercut by sprawling tree roots.

The moonlight reflected off the water almost blindingly, catching the light off of small ripples in the water so far out they could barely see them. The sheer scope of the lake took Obi-Wan’s breath away; this only seemed to be about a fourth of the total size, and yet it stretched and curved around and between the mountains that surrounded it on a scale that was barely comprehensible. He tugged on Cody’s hand, pulling them down to a small bench near the waters edge that had been cleared of snow—likely by a ranger after being informed they were coming for the weekend.

“Tell me a story.” He said after they had been quiet for a few minutes, watching as an owl swooped over the far end of the lake before disappearing back into the trees and Cody, with some maneuvering due to his extra height, laid his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder, his breath frosting in front of both of them. “One I don’t know.”

“Hmmm,” Cody hummed against his shoulder. “What kind of story?”

“Something important,” Obi-Wan suggested, and though he wouldn’t’ trade this moment, he was glad for the suede coat he had gotten for Christmas as the wind blew over them off the lake. Cody was quiet for a few more minutes and Obi-Wan' almost felt bad for asking him.

“I found a baby once.”

“What?” Obi-Wan couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice.

“It was my third night working for the city. I’d just gotten done with my 2-year tour of duty and started back with the Public Works department.” He leaned up off Obi-Wan’s shoulder but didn’t let go of his hand, stroking his thumb as if deep in thought. “Someone had called in a rabid raccoon in one of the neighborhoods near campus and I was taking care of it as the newest person on the team.

I was able to tranquilize it and get it turned over to people who could deal with it, but when I was returning the van to the office, I noticed there was something on the steps. I thought maybe someone had missed a package that they’d dropped off, so I went to take it inside and instead found a little baby girl, still asleep in what looked like her blankets from the hospital.”

Cody paused for long enough that Obi-Wan prompted him. “What did you do?”

“I called it in immediately,” He said, “And my boss was on his way over, but she woke up hungry. So, I called dad and he talked me through feeding her with some of the formula we keep in the break at the office for people with kids.

No one knew who she was, but there’s a policy that lets people drop babies off without consequences within the first three months of life. I knew whoever left her wasn’t coming back, and that everything was going to work out with a family who could take care of her, but I didn’t want to let her go. I called her Alanna, just where she could here me, after my mother. She used to be a social services caseworker for kids, you know? By the time the child services people got there, I was the only one who could hold her without crying.”

Cody stopped talking, squeezing Obi-Wan’s hand tighter and looking out over the lake. “I still think about her sometimes. That was,” And he paused to do some quick math, “Well, I was 23 at the time so it would have been eleven years ago. So, she’s in middle school now. I used to wonder what might have happened if I had taken her home with me, but I had been home for less than two weeks. Still living with dad while they finalized the apartment. Hadn’t even gotten my first paycheck from the city. I wasn’t who she needed long term, and eventually I realized that I was just who she needed that night.”

Cody had told Obi-Wan a lot of stories, but walking back to the cabin a few minutes later, the air lightened with a bit of laughter about the cold and the flush of Obi-Wan’s cheeks as a result, Obi-Wan realized that that was in fact, perhaps, the most important one he had heard.

* * *

Obi-Wan acknowledged that he was probably hammering his board with an excessive amount of force. But it felt good to do it and it overpowered the now-irritating sound of the incessant rain running down the roof of the carport to the ground where it was making big pools he’d have to splash through later to go home. Anakin hadn’t said anything yet, but Obi-Wan could tell that he wanted to. It wasn’t until now, when he missed the nail completely and put a small, perfectly round dent in the board that his brother spoke up.

“If you break that part, you’ll have to rebuild the whole base,” He said, in what Obi-Wan could tell was a forced casual tone. Obi-Wan didn’t respond, most because he knew he shouldn’t snap at Anakin who had done nothing wrong and was nice enough to help try to build garden planters to begin with. Anakin’s looked much better than his, made with perfectly even cuts of gray wood that matched the exterior of the house. Padme wanted them because bending over in the small landscape gardens she and Anakin kept around the front of the house with peppers and tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers was becoming increasingly difficult as her stomach continued to grow. Anakin would be tending those still, she had told Obi-Wan, but she wanted to be able to be able to grow fresh herbs and Zinnias and the planters would be perfect for that.

Obi-Wan wanted planters for the front of his duplex to grow herbs and zucchini and maybe a few tomatoes and peppers. He enjoyed gardening and hadn’t done it since Qui-Gon had died. This year, however, had finally felt like the chance to give it another go. Or at least that had been one of his plans for the summer before all of this started. He rolled his shoulders, aiming his hammer more carefully and setting the board tightly in the way he was supposed to. The momentary reprieve had softened the bit of frustration that was eating away at him, but hadn’t eased it, and the incessant drizzling sound of the rain was grating on his last nerve.

“Are you two still fighting?” Anakin asked finally, setting his hammer down after hearing Obi-Wan curse for the fourth time at a garden planter that had done nothing wrong.

“We aren’t fighting,” Obi-Wan said back, anger flaring up. He and Cody were not without their fights of course: Arguments over Obi-Wan’s questionable sleeping habits or Cody’s tendency to not check his phone for hours at a time, or even one fight that Obi-Wan laughed at in hindsight over the type of potted plant that he should get for his office after the purple orchid he kept there had finally died. But this was much different, and was bleeding into its second week. “We fundamentally disagree.”

“Cody wants you to go.” Anakin said, walking over the work bench to get the handheld drill and a handful of screws.

“Yes,” As Obi-Wan spoke, he felt the angry energy he had drain from him and the exhaustion of the stress this argument was causing instead settled. He set his hammer down on his half-finished planter and sat on a clear spot on one of Anakin’s work benches.

“You’ll be back in early August, right?” Anakin asked, still not looking over at him as screwed in the leg clamps with practiced motions.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said, and knew that logically that was not such a long time. He knew that Cody was being perfectly reasonable, in fact he was being very supportive of the entire thing. One of the professors originally assigned to be teaching the London abroad program that summer had accepted a position at another University and Dr. Windu had asked Obi-Wan if he would be interested in a largely expenses-paid trip to London for the summer. As long as he taught one course in urban economic theory for the college, he would have free leave and full funding to support his own research writing on parliamentary protocols for citizen representation. Had it been the summer before, he would have accepted in a heartbeat. “Things are complicated.”

“Do you need money?”

“No,” But Obi-Wan smiled, knowing that Anakin would give him his last dollar (not that he would ever ask him for that). “I just…it’s complicated.”

“Is it Cody?” Anakin asked, and looked up as Obi-Wan nodded, unable to voice his thoughts. “I thought he wanted you to go?” Obi-Wan nodded again. “You don’t want to leave.” A third nod.

Anakin let out a long breath, but instead of sitting down like Obi-Wan thought he was going to, he reached over and took a long drag off a can of Diet, Caffeine Free Coke (Since Padme had gotten pregnant, he had given up caffeine, regular pop, and alcohol because she could not have them) before going back to his screws.

“What are you worried about?”

“I don’t know,” Obi-Wan said, and that was half true. He did not know how to explain what he thought. That the space and time spent so far apart on such different schedules would show that their relationship was far more fragile than he wanted it to be. That all the highs they had had: The team, the cabin, the long nights on the phone, the family dinner, ice skating at Triangle Park in the city center in a sort of slow waltz for New Years Eve would not add up to enough. That this was the most _right_ something had felt in a very long time and the possibility of fucking that up while stressed and overworked and not sleeping enough in another country felt astronomically high. That he didn’t want to spend three months sleeping alone in a bed again when his favorite part of the day was waking up with one of Cody’s arms lying lazily across his waist or Cody’s head resting against his chest while he caught an extra few minutes of sleep. Hardly things he could say to Anakin. “I’m worried that things will change, I suppose.”

“I’m sure they will,” Anakin said around a screwdriver that he was now holding in-between his teeth as tightened the clamp pressing the boards together. That was not the answer Obi-Wan was expecting, and he stayed staring at his brother until he finally looked over at him, taking the screwdriver out of his mouth and waving it. “Doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

“I—”

But Anakin held his hand up, “Obi-Wan, I’ve seen you date people in the past, all of them varying degrees of asshole. I like Cody. Ahsoka likes Cody. Padme likes Cody. Most importantly, you love Cody.” He said, pointing the screwdriver at him and Obi-Wan leaned back, trying to absorb what Anakin was saying, “It’s less than three months. This is your research, its what you do for a career. The fact that he’s supporting that and telling you to go and follow that opportunity is not something you find every day. Clearly the guy loves you too, or he wouldn’t say that.”

“I’m more worried about me than him,” Obi-Wan admitted.

“That you won’t love him after you come back?” Anakin asked incredulously.

“No!” Obi-Wan said, “No, I’m worried that I’ll say something to upset him or wrong or that makes him think I don’t love him and I won’t be here to fix it.”

“You remember when Padme and I first got together?”

Obi-Wan nodded his head slowly, that time feeling like a wholly different lifetime.

“We had barely been dating for year when she went back to Naboo to finish graduate school,” He leaned forward on the planter, “I saw her a maximum of two days a week, and those were cut short by driving.”

“And it was all right?”

“It was horrible!” Anakin said, and let out a little laugh at what Obi-Wan knew was the stricken expression on his face. “But it was temporary. And it was what she needed to do to finish her degree while I finished mine up here. At the end of that we had figured out a hundred different ways to spend time together, none of them in person. I loved the moments when could be together physically, but I wouldn’t trade any of that time with her for anything. And now, a little distance feels like nothing if one of us has something going on,” He picked his drill back up to start working again, “If you can say the same thing about Cody, then I think you should strongly consider going.”

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything for a few minutes letting that run through his head. “When did you get so smart about things like this?” He said weakly.

“When I figured out what being in love could be like.”

Obi-Wan looked at his brother, diving fully back into his work, and he smiled for what felt like the first time that week.

* * *

It was Rex, not Cody, who answered the door to the apartment. He looked happy enough to see Obi-Wan, letting him in even though Obi-Wan wasn’t planning on staying too long. “He’s finishing getting dressed,” Rex explained, moving back to workout equipment he had been using when Obi-Wan arrived, doing what looked like a very intense set of tricep exercises.

Cody emerged less than a minute later, adjusting the strap of the watch on his wrist as he stepped out. It was the watch that Obi-Wan had gotten him for Christmas he noted and couldn’t help but feel a bit bolstered by that. “You ready to go?” He asked Cody who seemed a bit cautious, but did smile back. Obi-Wan could hardly blame him after how most of their conversations had gone the past week.

Cody drove them to Dex’s (an increasingly frequent occurrence, especially after Obi-Wan had hit two curbs in a single trip), and Obi-Wan hated even the slight undercurrent of tension he could feel between them. The café was busy but not too crowded and they were able to get the corner booth that was Obi-Wan’s favorite with little trouble. He chose not to speak about his decision until after they had ordered, but could tell that Cody was dying to ask him questions. Not that he bad at hiding it, but Obi-Wan knew him well enough now to know that the slight hand wringing and the wayward glances meant that he was agitated.

The waitress finally freed them of their menus and there was nothing left to do but talk about it.

“First,” Obi-Wan started. He had laid this all out very neatly in his head, but the soft press of his fingers to Cody’s on top of the table so that he would stop tapping them scrambled that just a bit. He hated that he had upset him, that he had let this drag out this long without making a decision. But he had needed that time, even if it had meant a week without small comforts like these. “I’m sorry that I’ve been snapping at you all week. I wasn’t dealing with this particularly well.”

Cody didn’t say anything but did incline his head in acceptance of the apology, and Obi-Wan could tell he was still nervous about what Obi-Wan’s ultimate decision would be. “You deserve a lot better than that,” He added softly, and rolled his shoulders, clearing his throat. “I turned in all of my paperwork today. I leave for the program on May 31st.”

“You’re going?” Cody said, and Obi-Wan registered first shock and then happiness on Cody’s face before that slowly morphed to pride. Cody pressed his hand to Obi-Wan’s more firmly, pressing his fingers between Obi-Wan’s own. “That’s great!”

Obi-Wan did his best to look ecstatic back at him. The worry that had been eating at him still hadn’t gone away, but after his conversation with Anakin, he could see the logic in it. There was every reason to go. And only half-hidden anxieties that would keep him from it.

“Thank you,” He said, sincerely, “And for encouraging me in the first place.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,’ Cody said, “What were you worried might happen?”

He let the reasons run through his head and felt his face heat with embarrassment. What if Cody thought he was ridiculous? “Us,” He said finally, “That I would mess this up while I was away.”

When he looked at Cody, however, he wasn’t laughing or smiling, instead he looked firmly serious. “I’m nervous, too,” He admitted, “And things will be different for a while and maybe still when you get back. But,” He paused for a long moment, “I don’t think that is a bad thing necessarily.” He shook his head as if agreeing with himself.

Obi-Wan nodded amazed and almost embarrassed at how similar this was to his conversation with Anakin. Maybe he had been overreacting this entire time, “I’m going to miss you. Being here with you. Being able to call you when I need to hear your voice or want to hear about your day.”

“You’re not leaving yet,” Cody said, and Obi-Wan had to laugh at himself for mourning things that were still in motion. “We’ve still got a whole soccer season ahead of us.”

“And we have a title to defend,” Obi-Wan agreed, and by the time they had ordered one of the cast iron skillet chocolate chip cookies with swirled ice cream to split at the end of the meal, he could almost shelve his worry away.

* * *

“Can you see Crawford Passage?” Obi-Wan was quite certain that the woman who was living in the flat above him thought he was insane. He certainly looked the part, waving his phone around the empty alley of his flat. “This is home for the next three months.”

“Looks like the kind of place you’d like to stay in,” Cody remarked through his headphones, and Obi-Wan could hear him taking a bite of the salad he was eating for lunch. It was the first time they had been able to call and talk since Obi-Wan had arrived several days ago and had to hurry to get everything situated for the class he was teaching, get everything he needed for his flat, and to schedule what felt like an endless number of both interviews and trips to Westminster or the British Museum around that schedule.

“Is that a bookstore?” Cody asked as Obi-Wan moved it past the end of the street where the small Sainsbury’s grocery store, the Italian church, and the small bookstore were. “Absolutely perfect for you.”

“There’s a coffee shop at the top of the hill,” Obi-Wan confirmed, turning the phone back towards him and starting to walk towards the bus stop. “I thought I’d take us on a ride around London if you had the time.”

“I’m yours for twenty-three more minutes,” confirmed Cody, and Obi-Wan sent a small thank you to whatever deity had intervened to get the bus to arrive at nearly the same time that he did. He climbed to the top deck, completely empty since it was well after rush hour, and thankfully air conditioned unlike Obi-Wan’s rental flat. He held the phone up to the window, pointing out the various shops and restaurants and pubs that they passed, adding anecdotes when it was a place that he had already been to. British wine was nothing to write home about, he told Cody, but the beer was some of the best.

Their time together passed quickly, with Cody peppering in details about home, including that Ahsoka had apparently been attending all of the city council meetings with Barriss before she left for her internship the week after. Cody told him that he had also offered him and Rex to babysit Luke and Leia, who he had thankfully been able to meet as they were born two weeks early, so that Anakin and Padme could have a night out together; a night scheduled for the end of June when the babies would have a little more fortitude.

“I’ve got to go,” Cody said finally, and Obi-Wan could hear the reluctance in his voice. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Obi-Wan said back to the screen, making sure to smile until it registered that the call had ended. He sighed, and pressed his cheek against the bus window. The city passed by in a blur as he headed towards Clapton Pond to meet one of his interviewees there for dinner. It would be a brilliant three months, but, if this phone call was any indication, it would be a long one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR_d9AnEmgE&list=PL9tY0BWXOZFtueHV3hqNCZlzT8atcAno- 
> 
> Link to the album I've been listening to while writing these. Gave it a brief shoutout here: Brian Fallon is fantastic if you've haven't listened to him!
> 
> Also the baby story was definitely inspired by both the song "When You're Ready" on that playlist but also by the Ryloth arc which I know was Waxer but I definitely co-opted it here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a shorter chapter this time, but its a big one so I wanted to keep it brief! 
> 
> Thank you all again for your support, it means the world to me! :D
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy :) Please R and R!
> 
> And, you can find me on tumblr at this same name; I'm always down to talk shop or Star Wars!

“You don’t want Uncle Obi-Wan to leave, do you Luke?” Luke gurgled up at his father, little bubbles popping around his mouth. Obi-Wan watched Anakin grin down at him, tickling him on the one spot on Luke’s chest that made him giggle almost uncontrollably.

“Uncle Obi-Wan has a date,” Obi-Wan said, putting away the last of the groceries that Anakin had brought home with him. He had volunteered to babysit throughout the day, but he was due to meet Cody in an hour and needed to wash the remaining spit up and various other fluids from his body before Cody arrived to pick him up. And he still had to drive home to do that.

“You all going stargazing again?”

“I think Cody wants to make it an annual thing,” Obi-Wan said. Not that he had any complaints about that. It was hard to believe that it had been a year since their first date. Everything else seemed to have passed in a whirlwind and now Ahsoka had been in Scotland for nearly two weeks, the fall semester had started with a bang with Obi-Wan’s research being accepted for publication, and Padme had returned to work after six weeks of maternity leave while Anakin had started his three months of paternity leave (his business offered some exceptional benefits for employees, Obi-Wan had discovered). He spent many afternoons with his niece and nephew so that Anakin could do things such as shop or repair his vehicle. And he loved every minute of it.

“You better get going then,” Even though Anakin was speaking to him, he was speaking in the tone he reserved for the babies as he traded Luke for Leia to do a diaper check. “Thank you again for watching the twins.”

“Anytime,” Obi-Wan said as he stepped out the door, happy to know that he actually meant it.

He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Anakin; they were in fact going stargazing, but the event started a full hour later than he had told his brother. But he had plans for the evening.

Part of him had known since his and Cody’s first date that they were meant to be together, but old anxieties and questions and everything else had kept him from voicing that. There had been moments: Their walk along the lakeshore the last day they had spent at their cabin, at the gate when Cody had been waiting for him when he got off his plane back from England, the moment when they were spinning in slow circles on their ice skates as the ball had dropped on New Years Eve, that he had felt the compulsion to ask Cody to marry him. He hadn’t, however, but now, on their first anniversary that would take them back to where it had all started…he couldn’t think of a better opportunity.

He had, in the second drawer of his dresser at home where he kept pairs of black socks and his undershirts, a pair of simple black band rings. Cody wasn’t really someone to show off with a flourish, and the rings had been simple and beautiful and perfect. He had ordered them while still abroad and picked them up the day after he had returned, waiting on the perfect moment to ask.

He felt the lightness in his chest as he moved through his date preparation routine, almost too nervous to be patient enough to finish his shower. He dressed carefully, buttoning cuffs and links with easy fingers, taking the time to put on the square glasses he had worn on their first date. Satisfied with his reflection in the mirror, there was nothing left to do except wait, his fingers on the box he had hidden in his coat pocket. Cody was due in fifteen minutes, so he had timed his departure perfectly.

It had been an easy afternoon with the twins. They were quiet babies to begin with (must have taken after Padme in that regard) and of a generally happy disposition. Luke was easily vocal, reaching out like Ahsoka had always done to tug on Obi-Wan’s bright red beard. Leia was quieter, her dark eyes following him around the room as she started to figure things out for herself. Though he had scarcely gotten to see them before he left for England, he considered his time now with them to be precious.

He glanced down at his watch. It was nearly five minutes after when Cody had said he would arrive. And Cody was rarely late. In fact, Obi-Wan couldn’t’ think of a single incident except on Obi-Wan’s birthday when it had taken Dex’s an extra half hour than he had planned for to prepare the cake that he had ever been late. Especially for a date. Feeling a bit agitated, more from worry than annoyance, Obi-Wan tapped his leg on the floor and his hand on the arm of the couch. He debated turning the television on, but decided against it, and instead grabbed the latest issue of Popular Mechanics from the end table. IT looked hardly touched, which made sense since Anakin had hardly been over as the twins occupied most of his time and Obi-Wan had only been back a week. Hadn’t Anakin been reading Popular Mechanics that first time he went out with Cody? Obi-Wan wondered if that magazine was still in his apartment or if it had migrated to Skywalker-Naberrie household so Anakin could order loose parts.

He checked his watch again. Now ten minutes. He clicked his phone screen, but there was no message there. He let it go for seven more minutes before he shot a quick text to Cody. _Everything all right?_ But the familiar buzz that meant Cody had responded didn’t come. He flipped the flimsy pages of the magazine, not absorbing anything on the page. He forced himself to breath deeply, knowing it was likely simply a hang up at work, that Cody would text him soon.

But then an hour passed with no message. Then two. Then three and Obi-Wan was forced to turn on a lamp as it became too dark to simple sit in his apartment and brood. And he was hungry. He left his phone reluctantly on the couch and grabbed an apple from the bowl of loose fruit on the counter, chewing thoughtfully. What had been agitation and then annoyance was now fully developed worry. He wanted to leave, to go look for Cody, but what if he came here? Where would he even begin to look?

He debated sending a text to Rex, but knew that he was out of town for the weekend, so he was left with no choice but to wait. Wild thoughts came to him. Had Cody figured out he was going to ask him to marry him? Was that the reason for this sudden disappearance? Had he realized he wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment? Had Obi-Wan been crazy to think it in the first place? Those thoughts didn’t stop until well after 10 p.m., when the stargazing would have been peak and Obi-Wan had been forced to eat something with a bit more sustenance and they were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.

He looked through the keyhole and pulled the door open with a flourish to see Cody standing on the other side. He looked like a disaster, still dressed in clothes from work, the bottom of his shoes caked with mud and soot and other questionable things. He smelled faintly like antiseptic, Obi-Wan noted, but most of all, he looked exhausted.

“I’m sorry,” Were the first words out of his mouth. He made no move to come in and looked as though he had been preparing the entire car ride for Obi-Wan to yell at him. “It’s dad.”

* * *

Obi-Wan did not like hospitals. He did not like going to them as a patient, he did not like going to them as a visitor. He hated the stubby hospital gift shops that sold cheap or fake flowers and overpriced candy and he hated the smell of hospital cafeterias that was a mix between chicken tender grease and fake cheese. He hated the hallways painted in bright colors and decorated with generic art that masked pain and suffering and loss behind the fake wooden doors. He hated the way people looked at you with pity if they knew why you were there or with hope if they didn’t. He had not been in a hospital since Qui-Gon had passed away and he and Anakin and Ahsoka had been there at his bedside and he couldn’t remember much about that moment except for the fly that was rubbing its legs together on the outside of the window and the way everything felt like a tidal wave washing over him.

“He’s at the end of the hall,” Cody said, leading them through the complex maze of patient rooms, “Gree’s already in there.”

It was coordinating with Gree and informing all of his other siblings that had run Cody’s phone completely out of battery and the charger he usually kept in his car he had moved that morning to a work van and promptly forgotten. With Rex gone and Gree distraught, he hadn’t been able to get away to tell Obi-Wan until his father was stabilized. It was serious, they had told him, but they expected a full recovery. Despite the heart attack, most of his vitals looked good, and he would likely be awake before the morning.

Gree looked up as they arrived, moving his eyes away from his father’s face for only a few seconds before they darted back, as if he were afraid that he might wake up for only a fraction of a second and that he might miss it. “Hey,” Cody said, taking one of the empty chairs at the end of the bed where Obi-Wan could sit beside him. “Did you get to eat your sandwich?”

Gree nodded his head, and tightened his grip on his father’s hand. “Thanks,” He said, and Cody nodded. Obi-Wan could see the relief on Cody’s face, and reached over to intertwine their arms. None of them said anything for a few minutes, and in that time, Obi-Wan realized that Gree was wearing the sweatshirt that he had gotten him for Christmas, some of the threads on the cuffs loose and a bit of the print on the front faded. He must have been wearing it to class when Cody picked him up because the only other thing in the room seemed to be Gree’s backpack that was stacked in a chair and a cheap, wax-coated disposable cup that was sweating on the food tray.

The heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm, but it was the only sound. Obi-Wan didn’t think that he had ever felt Cody hold his hand so tightly as if it were the only thing keeping him tethered.

“I’m glad you’re here,” It was Gree who spoke, addressing Obi-Wan. For the first time, Obi-Wan could see that he had been crying. “Dad will be glad too when he wakes up. You’re part of our family now.”

“He’s going to be all right, Gree,” Cody said softly, and Gree nodded stiffly. Obi-Wan didn’t know what to say in response. He wondered what Gree would say if he knew what was in Obi-Wan’s pocket at that moment. At how close that was to being true.

Mainly, he thought of the times he had been with Cody to his father’s house since that first visit at Christmas. Of the day when Cody had offered to help his father replace the gutters and Obi-Wan had spent the afternoon with Gree, who had shown him the finished Challenger model he had made and together they had built the interior cockpit of a new model he had gotten for Christmas of the Star Trek Enterprise. Of the time he and Cody and Rex had all gone and they had played Scrabble: Obi-Wan and Gree both having scores well over 300, Cody’s father with over 200, and with Cody and Rex barely scraping 150 despite playing as a team. OF Cody’s birthday, when Cody’s father had made a huge meal to celebrate and Rex and Fives and Gree had all been there—And Waxer and Boil had called, making it all feel like a very large party before their more quiet celebration at home later that evening. The thought filled him with warmth and he lifted Cody’s hand to press a kiss to the back of it.

To his surprise, Cody looked over at him with an odd expression on his face. “Do you mind if we talk in the hall for a moment?” He asked, and Obi-Wan shook his head, disentangling himself from Cody’s arm to climb out of his rather uncomfortable chair. The hallway was deserted with the exception of a nurse who was so far on the other end of the hallway that Obi-Wan coudnt’ tell what their hair color was.

“Is everything—” But then Cody’s lips were on his, kissing him so deeply it took Obi-Wan a moment to recover before he could respond. He twined his arms around Cody, holding him close, rubbing soothing circles on the curve of his jaw for a moment.

When the kiss came to its conclusion, Cody wrapped his arms around him, his lips near Obi-Wan’s ear. “This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go at all,” He said, voice heavy with apology and, if Obi-Wan was not mistaken, a tinge of regret.

“That isn’t your fault, Cody,” He said urgently, holding Cody close to him in his embrace, massaging an easy circle near his shoulder blade. “Tell me,” He said, speaking so softly he could scarcely hear himself, “How was tonight supposed to go?”

“I put in an order at Dex’s. The same thing as last year.” Obi-Wan smiled, pressing his forehead against Cody’s shoulder, remembering their paninis and turnovers. “I was going to come to your house and we were going to go back out to the same field where I realized I was in love with you.”

He paused for a moment, as if he hadn’t truly meant to say that out loud or that he thought Obi-Wan would argue. They turned in small, slow circles as Obi-Wan waited to hear the rest, letting himself be surrounded by the warmth that Cody was radiating. “And, I was going to ask you a question. And, hopefully, by the end of the night, we’d be wearing these.”

Obi-Wan moved his head back, knowing what was coming but unable to contain the shock all the same. Cody reached into his back pocket and pulled out a box, so similar to Obi-Wan’s own, only the bands inside were soft silver instead of black.

“Well,” Obi-Wan said, “I don’t think that would have worked.”

Cody’s face fell though he tried to hide it, and he opened his mouth to speak before Obi-Wan interrupted him. “Because if we were both wearing those, how could we wear these?” He pulled the box from his jacket pocket and Cody laughed out loud.

And then they were kissing again and the lightness that had been in Obi-Wan’s chest all day fluttered there again. Despite the situation, despite the hellish day it had been and all the ruined plans that hadn’t come to fruition. And they didn’t stop kissing until they could hear Gree’s voice behind them.

“Dad?” He said, voice raising in volume. “Dad, it’s Gree. You’re okay! You’re at the hospital!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch for additional postings on this, def planning some outtakes of some variety. I will list them as part of the same series, but just wanted to let you all know!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hope you enjoy! Please R and R :) 
> 
> Thank you all for the amazing support on this story! :D I think I'm aiming for ten chapters on this first installment, so a couple of more!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr at this same username! I'm always down to talk shop or Star Wars :)

Obi-Wan shifted slightly on the bed, the tiniest bit of sun peeking through the blinds over his window. He shifted until a disgruntled huff came from beside his head and he stopped moving. Cody, in his usual manner, had curled up against him, one arm over Obi-Wan’s bare stomach, and Obi-Wan was loathe to wake him. For most of the past month, Cody had been living between his own apartment and his father’s house to ensure he would have someone home at night. Rex did go on occasion, but he traveled so often that it was difficult to get more than a day or two in. Gree did try on the weekends, but Cody had been clear that he wanted Gree to focus on his schoolwork as much as possible and so, more often than not, Cody had been sleeping on the couch of his father’s home so he could make sure he was okay throughout the night.

His sleeping pattern thus, Obi-Wan noted, had been more than a bit lackluster as of late. And Cody typically slept on a far more regimented schedule than anyone Obi-Wan knew.

But now it was Gree’s fall break, and with him at the house full time for a week, Cody had spent his first night at Obi-Wan’s apartment since they were engaged. He ran a hand down Cody’s back, looking at the ring on his finger—his was the silver that Cody had chosen, Cody’s was the black that Obi-Wan had picked out—trying to coax him into staying asleep. It probably did not help Cody’s sleeplessness that they had not exactly gone to bed early the night before, evidenced by the fact that neither of them were wearing clothes and the slightest bit of soreness that Obi-Wan could feel as he stretched out his back while trying not to move too much.

He thought at first that he could perhaps go back to sleep, and though he closed his eyes and listened to Cody’s peaceful breathing, he couldn’t manage it. So instead he thought of the day ahead. They were spending the afternoon with Anakin and Padme, who had been trying to take them out to eat to celebrate their engagement since it had happened. One of the teenagers that lived in their neighborhood had agreed to watch the twins for the afternoon, and so they could be out of the house.

Obi-Wan thought of the twins, now nearly four and half months old, and he smiled into quiet darkness of his room. Anakin had always been an exuberant person, full of joy and laughter and love at times when everything seemed very bleak. After his mother had died and Anakin had come to live with him and Qui-Gon permanently at nine years old, Obi-Wan could remember the small things he did. Afraid that Obi-Wan did not like him at first, he remembered Anakin bringing him home books from the library that he thought Obi-Wan would like when he went with Qui-Gon, and not admitting that he actually didn’t like banana peppers on his pizza until years later because he knew that Obi-Wan liked them so much. Obi-Wan could remember the glass jars of gardenias and Queen Anne’s lace that Anakin would pick out of yards that were about to be mowed for Qui-Gon and put in jars where they could catch the sunlight that came in through Qui-Gon’s windows. He remembered Anakin with Ahsoka as a baby, and how Anakin was always the glue that held the four of them together when it seemed like everything was on some precipice of falling apart.

To see Anakin with his children was a different level altogether. He was almost radiant, Obi-Wan thought, the same way he had looked at his and Padme’s wedding though now it was every time Luke giggled or Leia would gum out a sound that sounded like “da”. Or when Padme was standing in the corner, holding one of the twins, and Obi-Wan watched him smile at her like he had never seen anything quite so extraordinary. The thought made Obi-Wan happy, and the thought that his family, always difficult to explain and hard for strangers to comprehend, was growing steadily.

“Quit movin’” Cody’s sleepy grumble made Obi-Wan laugh which meant Cody’s eyes opened to look at him indignantly.

“I’m not good with instructions,” Obi-Wan said, and Cody—grumpy though he might have been—breathed out a laugh. He uncurled his arm from Obi-Wan’s waist and laid flat on his back, looking at the ceiling.

“It’s nice to be able to roll over and not fall onto the living room floor,” He commented, closing his eyes again as Obi-Wan sat up. He reached for Obi-Wan’s wrist, stalling him from getting out of the bed to go to the restroom—as much to brush his teeth as anything—“The company’s not bad either.”

“I should hope so,” Obi-Wan said with a smile, moving his arm until Cody’s hand fell back to the mattress. “If only we could sleep together like this on your father’s sectional.”

Cody snorted, burrowing back down into the blankets that Obi-Wan had climbed out of, “That would be something for him to see. Might give him a second heart attack.”

Obi-Wan laughed as he started his foreshortened morning routine in the bathroom, taking two Tylenol before he brushed his teeth and rinsed with Listerine that made his tongue feel like it was blistered. He debated pulling on the pair of pajama pants folded neatly on his wicker shelf that had never made it to his body after his shower the night before, but decided against it. It wasn’t so late yet that they had to get up immediately. Perhaps they would have time for a few other activities before that happened.

Cody it seemed, had the same idea. He went after Obi-Wan into the bathroom, but when he came back out, he also hadn’t gotten dressed, and the grin he gave at Obi-Wan, who was lying on top of the covers, said everything Obi-Wan needed to know.

* * *

“This might be the best steak I’ve eaten,” Cody leaned back in his chair beside Obi-Wan, looking down at his plate with something akin to amazement.

“It really is,” Anakin and Cody had ordered exactly the same food, “Oh my god, Padme, how did you find this place?”

“There are benefits to being well connected, boys,” She said, waving her fork at them. “One of them is this hidden gem.”

Obi-Wan had to agree with her assessment. When they had first arrived at the restaurant, Cody driving since Padme’s car was outfitted with car-seats and Obi-Wan had known better than to let Anakin drive, it hadn’t looked like much. It was in the older part of the downtown, the sign a mixture of peeling paint and cracked wood, and the inside hardly lit. But the food…Obi-Wan really didn’t think he had eaten better food in the his life which explained the crowd at such an odd time on a Saturday. All of them seemed to be regulars as well, and to know the owners--one of whom Obi-Wan had seen walk by their table--all of 80 years old with suspenders holding up his knee length shorts.

“I think we need to go out to lunch more, Padme,” Obi-Wan said, only half kidding. She winked, nudging Anakin with her elbow when he started inhaling his side of mashed potatoes.

“I think we should,” She agreed, “Anakin and I try to go out every other week, but he always wants to go to Pods.”

“Obi-Wan’s favorite restaurant is Dex’s!” Anakin protested while swallowing potatoes at the same time. “At least Pod’s isn’t a diner.”

“No,” Padme agreed before she smiled mischievously, “It’s a bar.”

Obi-Wan heard Cody laugh beside him, trying to disguise it behind his hand, but Anakin scowled good-naturedly in his direction. “The cactus bites at Pod’s are the best in the City,” Padme conceded that point with a nod of her head, “But maybe we could go other places, too.”

“So,” She turned to Obi-Wan and Cody, “Have you two thought about a date? Or a venue?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, waiting until he swallowed to answer. “We haven’t had too much time to discuss things, really, with everything that has happened with Jango.”

“We were thinking outdoors,” Cody said, “In one of the parks.”

“I loved our outdoor wedding,” Padme said and Anakin nodded his agreement, “It was so nice and there was so much space for everyone.”

“We talked briefly about having it back at the National Park,” Obi-Wan said, “But there aren’t many places for people to stay if they’re traveling in.”

“The park would be gorgeous,” Padme said, almost wistfully. Anakin nodded again, chewing another bite of his steak. Obi-Wan had the sneaking suspicion that his sister-in-law was going to try her best to remain neutral and support whatever decision they ended up making, a fact that he appreciated.

“We might honeymoon there instead,” He looked over at Cody who smiled, his face swimming in memories of their time on the lakeshore. “I miss our cabin.”

“I do, too,” Cody said and reached for Obi-Wan’s hand under the table, only holding it for a fraction of a second before his cheeks darkened as he realized the very please faces that Anakin and Padme were making at them. His hand returned to the top of the table and he cleared his throat, filling his mouth with food so he didn’t have to speak.

“We’re asking our wedding party this week,” Obi-Wan said, “In fact,” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two envelopes. “This is for you,” He handed the first one to Anakin. “And this is for you.” He handed the second to Padme.

They opened them together, each one having been painstakingly handwritten by Obi-Wan before he asked. “I want you both up there with me,” He said, “Anakin as my best man, Padme with Ahsoka as the rest on my side.”

Anakin didn’t say anything, but looked like he was swallowing back some emotion that Obi-Wan couldn’t identify. It disappeared off his face though, and he gave Obi-Wan a wink and nod. “Oh, I’d love to!” Padme said, “And Ahsoka will be so pleased.”

“I was going to ask her this afternoon,” Obi-Wan said, “She and I are supposed to Zoom each other later.”

“We’d like the twins to be the ring bearer and flower girl,” Cody added, and Obi-Wan realized he had forgotten to mention that bit, swept up in all the joy of the feeling that everything was coming together at last. “My brothers will be with me on my side of the aisle.”

“The twins will love to be part of the party. Who’s your best man?” Anakin asked, polishing off the last of his lunch and pushing the plate away.

“Rex, I think the rest of them are happy not to have to have much responsibility.”

Talk turned then to Cody’s family. All of his brothers, all of whom Anakin and Padme had met with the exception of the twins. It turned out that Fives was a regular at city council meetings, especially those related to zoning, to advocate on behalf of the bar that he owned half of, and that Padme saw Rex fairly often where he worked for the Parks Department. Both of them had met Gree and Cody’s father when Cody had brought them over for the 2nd inaugural viewing of the Podracing National Championships at Anakin and Padme’s house, which had been odd without Ahsoka, but fun when it became a heated battle between the Mando’a team and the Mustafar racers that Anakin supported.

All four of them, stuffed from lunch, waved away dessert, but in an effort to extend the afternoon, took a walk around the block where they were, taking in the fountain that according to Padme had been there since ten years after the city was first founded with only slight refurbishments and regular cleanings since. The water that ran through it was crystal clear and there was a group of kids, middle school age, who were playing in the water that splashed out the back of it, trying to dodge the random spurts as they came flying out.

“I forget how nice the city is sometimes,” Padme said from where she was standing, hand in hand with Anakin watching the kids play. “I spend my hole day representing the people who live here and there are still parts of it I’ve never seen.”

“That could be our goal for the year,” Anakin said, “To see every nook and cranny of the city. Something for us to do together.”

Obi-Wan felt as though he were suddenly intruding on a very private, intimate moment between them and so steered Cody away from them to a small shop across the street with fabrics in a hundred colors draped over its open doors and the sound of a working loom inside. The tiny woman who was behind the counter watched them come in, but did nothing to greet them except adjust her glasses that had lenses as thick as Obi-Wan’s finger and go back to weaving on the loom that must have weighed a hundred times as much as she did. They looked around the shop, full of dyed yarns and fabrics and handmade textiles that he wanted to smother himself in. He settled, in the end for buying a scarf that Cody told him matched his dark green sweater perfectly. The woman running the shop warmed up considerably after that.

Back outside, the city was coming to life as Saturday afternoon turned to Saturday evening. The bars had turned on their neon that sputtered overhead, and the day shoppers had been replaced with a younger crowd that seemed a mix of students and residents. Obi-Wan and Cody moved through the people with ease to where Anakin and Padme were sitting on the edge of the fountain waiting on them to come back, heads tucked close together as they laughed at some shared joke.

“I love that shop!” Padme said, noting the bag in Obi-Wan’s hand that wasn’t looped through Cody’s arm. “I bought a poncho there and it’s the only thing that will keep every drop of rain out.”

“I got a scarf,” Obi-Wan said, “I definitely need one for campus this winter. I almost lost an ear last year during that blizzard.”

With that, they moved back to the car, dropping Anakin and Padme off at home to relieve the teenager babysitting the twins from what had likely been a very long afternoon.

* * *

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” The fact that Gree was on fall break and could stay with Jango at night meant both that Obi-Wan was also on fall break for the semester and that Cody was free to stay the night in Obi-Wan’s duplex every night if he choose to. Since Friday, he had been there every night.

“We can’t all be on fall break,” Cody winked down at Obi-Wan who was lying in bed still, glasses askew on his face, as he started fastening the buttons on his shirt. “The city would fall apart.”

Obi-Wan sighed dramatically—and though he did fairly well, having seen Anakin do it many times—and laid back against the pillow. Cody finished the second to last button on his shirt, smoothing down the front. “What are you doing tonight?” He asked, looking down at Obi-Wan.

“Let’s see,” Obi-Wan stroked his beard, pretending to be lost in thought, “I think I’ll spend the day in bed, pining over my fiancé who has left me here alone in my melancholy.”

“Sounds like a real bastard,” Cody said, his face dripping with fake sincerity, “I think I might leave the guy who did that.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that,” Cody stepped closer to him, hands braced on the bed on either side of Obi-Wan’s waist.

“Oh,” Cody hovered above him, “And why is that?”

Obi-Wan briefly considered making a quip, but it was hard to think at that moment when all he really wanted to do was sit up and kiss Cody until he completely forgot about work. “I love him far too much.”

“Hmmm,” Cody hummed, leaning down to almost press a kiss against Obi-Wan’s lips, “I can confirm he feels the same.”

When they broke apart again, Cody did actually leave, readjusting his shirt and almost forgetting his wallet. As much as Obi-Wan would have genuinely liked to have stayed in be the rest of the day to catch up on some of his missing sleep, he had so many things to do he could hardly think through all of them. First, though, was his shower and the rest of his morning routine.

Hair still damp, he stuffed the sheets and blankets into the washing machine before making a large bowl of oatmeal with fruit to eat on the back patio. It wasn’t often that he took time to go out on his back patio, but the day was perfect and he had taken to giving himself an hour to read the book he had set out for himself each morning before starting on work or other related tasks. It wasn’t a particularly good book, a sci-fi western novel that Anakin had recommended because he and Ahsoka watched the television show, but it was vastly different than reading almost solely peer-reviewed articles or textbooks he wanted to sample for class so he couldn’t complain. And with the birds out and a cool October breeze blowing through his hair, it was hard to even find fault with the questionable writing.

He stretched out the hour as long as he could, but kept himself to his schedule and donned the appropriate gear to begin a deep clean of the kitchen. It wasn’t exactly dirty, per say since he kept it vacuumed and mopped, but during breaks he always took the time to scrub the tile grout and caked on grease that had accumulated in the off time. He let the old, battered boombox on one of his tables play out the stack of CDs he had accumulated from discount bins over the years. It was soothing, skipping from old country to pop to r&b, all songs he could at the very least hum along to.

He thought about, as he always did, the times that Qui-Gon had done something similar. Obi-Wan would consider Anakin and his father much more kindred spirits than he and Qui-Gon were, but there were little things, small moments that made Obi-Wan realize how much of his father’s behavior he had internalized. Those times when he would talk to all of the little animals that crossed his path, or when he would occasionally pick up a children’s book at the library and get lost for a short time in the imagination there. And now, listening to songs most people had forgotten while he scrubbed the dirt out of his tile grout.

He looked at the only picture on his refrigerator, one from his college graduation. His Coruscant University robes were bright blue, his diploma cover the same color in his arms. There was Qui-Gon, with his arm wrapped around Obi-Wan’s shoulders, and Anakin who had loosened his tie so much that the knot had come undone and already up to Obi-Wan’s shoulder at age eleven, and Ahsoka wearing a dress that Obi-Wan was certain that Qui-Gon had made himself, holding Anakin’s hand. Obi-Wan hadn’t had a beard then, Anakin had no scar yet from the mild car accident he had been in, they all looked so young that it was almost hard for Obi-Wan to believe that they were the same people. But Qui-Gon, before he had gotten so sick, always looked much the same except for an ever-increasing amount of gray in his hair. It was how Obi-Wan liked to remember Qui-Gon—happy and healthy and celebrating with the three of them.

“I think you’d like Cody, Dad” He addressed the picture, at first, but looked back down at the tile, making sure to scrape the dirt there. “He and I are getting married in May.”

The song hummed in the background and Obi-Wan felt something swelling in his chest, something intangible and so powerful it seemed like it might choke him. “I know I told you that I didn’t think I would ever get married, and I thought I was right. You always thought I might. Do you remember telling me that the reason none of my relationships had worked out is because I loved too much? Too strongly? And that I hadn’t found someone who could match that yet?”

The picture did not answer, but Obi-Wan found himself laughing out loud, remembering that exact conversation. It had seemed innocuous at first, one of his rare visits to the house when he had been teaching and doing research at the first university he had worked. The time before he had come home with Asajj Ventress-- and that had been only a few steps short of a disaster--, but that time he had come alone, telling his father that he was, perhaps finally, giving up on love. And Qui-Gon had been sitting on the back porch swing, drinking a mug of black tea and reading one of the books that Ahsoka had given him to read after she had finished it for a book report (Something about space dragons), and told him not to give up so easily on the notion of love.

“Cody does,” Obi-Wan said, and could hear the change in his own voice, the tear that ran down one of his cheeks. He finished the last of the tile and grabbed the bleach. He spoke out loud all the things they had done together, all the thoughts he had had. The soccer team, England, their vacation together, Cody’s family, podracing, his own family, ice skating in Triangle Park, everything he could think of. By the time he had finished, the tears had stopped flowing, and everything from the countertop to the backwash was sparkling. He took off his face mask and gloves, tossing them into the sink, and looked back at the picture.

“I wish you could meet him Dad,” He said, and swallowed back that bursting feeling in his chest. “And Luke and Leia. And see Ahsoka learning geology just like you did. And Anakin and Padme. I—” His voice faltered. He walked towards the picture, taking in the forever frozen smile on Qui-Gon’s face, his lips just upturned but his eyes showing everything the rest of his face didn’t. “I wish you were here.”

He turned off the old boombox, but instead of starting on the bathroom as he had planned, he went to the closet and pulled out boxes of photos dated starting after Anakin had come to live with them and settled onto the couch. He wondered, thumbing through them when he couldn’t stop smiling, if he had any black tea in the cabinet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Dont' miss the outtakes to this, the first of which is now published!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy! Please R and R
> 
> Thank you all for your support! Feel free to stop by and talk to be on my tumblr at the same name. I'm always down to talk shop or STar Wars.

“Don’t pick up the ball!” Cody was shouting for the little girl who had reached down with her hands to pick up the soccer ball, evidently tired of kicking it. Obi-Wan repressed a laugh as she carried on with her quest and Rex blew a gentle whistle to give the ball to the other team. Her lips pursed and she looked ready to cry, “It’s all right,” Cody shouted reassurance, “We’ll work on it.”

He spared a glance back at Obi-Wan who covered his laugh with what he hoped was subtle gesture—They had been working on it for most of the season. This year’s Tornadoes were very different from last spring’s Tornadoes. There were some of the same kids, like Katooni who was still their star player, but others like Zak had moved up to the eight and nine year old league, and a handful of the younger kids struggled to keep all of the rules straight and there was one little boy who rather enjoyed picking up all of the snails and rocks and wildflowers he could find on the field but was not particularly interested in kicking the ball.

“Let’s go! Push for their goal!”

It was the fourth game of the season, the start of November, and the winds were almost biting, but the back and forth running kept the kids warm in their loose jerseys and Cody warm in his long pants and jersey. It did not, however, keep Obi-Wan warm, and he had finally caved and bought himself a cheap throw blanket to cover his legs (dark green, of course) though he did wear his own Torandoes jersey to each game, regardless of temperature.

“Honey, do you mind holding this for me?” The voice was unexpected, and Obi-Wan had to half turn around to get a full look at the person who had spoken. It was an elderly woman, in her lates seventies or possibly early 80’s, holding out a plate with two chili buns on it. He took it from her and she took the opportunity to pour the can of Diet Pepsi she had brought into a cup with a straw. “Thank you, honey.” She said with a smile that showed a pair of teeth so perfect that they had to be dentures.

“Of course,” He said, and turned back around.

“Is that little number seven yours?” It was not the first time that Obi-Wan had been asked this. Number 7, a little boy named Jaret, had a shock of bright red hair (almost the exact shade of Obi-Wan’s own) and since Jaret’s parents, who had adopted him as a baby, looked nothing like him many of the new Tornadoes parents had assumed that Obi-Wan was his father.

“No, actually, my fiancé is the coach.”

“Mmmm,” She said, and at first he thought that would be the end of the conversation but as it turned out, she was simply taking a bite of her chili bun.

“I swear this chili is about the best in the county,” She said smacking her lips. He half-turned so he would be looking at her, splitting his attention between her and the game that was moving forward at a snail’s pace. “You like chili?”

“I do, though I have to say that the best chili in the county is at Dex’s Diner.”

“Oh, honey, you are right about that!” She said and let out a little laugh, “Lord, I haven’t been to Dex’s in nearly ten years. Not since .”

“I can’t imagine it’s changed much,” She laughed again and poked him on the arm before taking another bite of her bun. Obi-Wan tried to remember if he had ever met this woman before in his life: He certainly didn’t think so, but she was acting as though they were old friends.

“Do you have a child on the team?”

“Forty years ago,” She said, and then pointed across the field to the other team’s coach, “My son is the coach, and my granddaughter is the one looking at the goalpost.” Obi-Wan looked back at the field and saw, indeed, a little girl with her black hair done up in pigtails staring at the goalpost as if it held some fascination. “Must be fascinating to look at.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t contain his own laugh then, trying to muffle it. “Well, to be fair, I don’t think our team has made any charges on the goal.”

The playing zone seemed to be right in the center of the field where Katooni was single-handley managing to continue to steal the ball from the three offensive players on the other team. Neither, however, were making much forward progress beyond that.

“Well, no one said they’d all grow up to be stars.”

Obi-Wan grinned and nodded his agreement.

“I remember when Bobby used to play,” She pointed at her son, who was currently untying the knotted together cleats of one his team, “Never was very good.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or feel bad for Bobby, who seemed a perfectly nice man.

“He seems like a very nice man,” She nodded her agreement, finishing the last of her chili bun.

“Now that’s true, and that’s what’s most important,” She agreed. She didn’t say anything for a few more minutes, and Obi-Wan thought that perhaps she was finished, and he tried to catch back up with the game which, in all honesty, seemed to have progressed very little. She nudged him again a few minutes later, however, leaning down to where he could smell the Dove soap she had likely used that morning.

“You said you’re engaged to the coach of this green team, honey?” Cody currently had the team in a huddle, and Obi-Wan could tell they were at least trying their best to absorb a more effective strategy during this brief time out.

“Yes, ma’am,” He said cautiously.

“What a cutie!” She exclaimed, and pushed Obi-Wan on the shoulder, “Good catch!”

* * *

“I can’t believe you managed to get tickets to this,” Ahsoka moved up to stand next to Obi-Wan in line, Leia held up in her arms, playing with the long braid Ahsoka had tucked to one side, “They usually sell out in record time.”

“One of the many perks of holiday office parties,” Obi-Wan smiled, examining the tickets to find out where their seats were. Padme had won a set of four tickets as a door prize at her office’s holiday party, and the very next night, Obi-Wan had done the same. With Luke and Leia able to get in for free, they had been able to bring a truly massive group to watch the annual Winter Lights Spectacular at Switchyard Park. The event almost always sold out on the first day, and getting groups of tickets this large was nearly impossible. They wouldn’t all be able to sit together, of course, but at least there would be space enough for everyone, including Luke and Leia who were babbling happily to each other, bundled in such puffy winter coats that it seemed like Luke could hardly lower his arms. They were fascinated with Barriss, who so far had been shyer than Obi-Wan was expecting, but there were quite a few of them to contend with.

He handed his tickets to the attendant, a teenager with the very beginnings of a moustache growing on his upper lip, who handed them back and waved them on. Obi-Wan wished that they could all stay together, especially since Ahsoka had only been home for the better part of two weeks and he had scarcely been able to see her with the end of the semester, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Rex and I will get something for us to drink,” Cody offered, holding his hand out for two of the tickets. “We’ll meet you all up there.” Obi-Wan nodded, watching them walk off towards the crowd gathering at the concession stand, debating calling after Cody to get a bag of Kettle Korn. He had wanted some every since he had smelled it cooking when they arrived, but by the time he had made up his mind about it, Cody and Rex had vanished into the crowd. He resisted sighing and instead turned to Gree, “You ready?”

“Where are our seats at?”

It didn’t take long for Gree to find them, better at navigating all of the letters and number labels that indicated the row style seating of the amphitheater. There were only three rows from the bottom (cheaper seats, Obi-Wan was sure). “I’m glad we’re up top!” Gree said, grinning, slicing through Obi-Wan’s doubt, “We can see everything!”

Gree led them quickly up the old concrete stairs, stopping only once to let an elderly couple out of their aisle. There was no one yet in there row, and they were able to get their seats (numbers painted on the giant slab of concrete) with no issue at all.

“How was the semester, Gree?” Obi-Wan asked, after they had gotten situated, leaving the two seats on Obi-Wan’s side for Cody and Rex, respectively. He looked around as he waited on an answer and soon was able to spot Padme and Ahsoka, who were herding the toddling Luke and Leia into a row much closer to the bottom on the other side of the arena. He waved, and Padme eventually saw him, waving back. He watched as Luke reached up to his mother’s hand, thinking she wanted a high five, before she scooped him up and pointed at Obi-Wan. He wasn’t sure how much Luke was processing, but after Padme demonstrated a wave, Luke lifted his hand and did the same, his fingers covered by his green mittens that were connected by a string to his other hand.

“Straight A’s,” Gree said, hands stuffed into the pocket of his overlarge hoodie, watching the people milling around below them. “I really like it,” He said it very quietly, and Obi-Wan thought he might be a bit embarrassed. After all, the common parlance was that school was something to get through, not necessarily something to enjoy.

“I always loved taking classes,” Obi-Wan said, “I audited a class on limnology a couple of years ago; not something I ever expected to do.”

“Limnology?”

“The study of still bodies of water, as I learned,” Obi-Wan said and had to laugh at himself, remembering asking that exact question on the first day to one of his colleagues who had seemed equally confused and wary of his appearance in the class until he showed that he was legitimately there to learn something and was, more frequently than he would have thought possible, the only one who consistently did all of the reading. “

“They’re letting me take a four hundred level physics class in the spring,” Gree said, “Because of my AP credits and my placement scores.”

“Damn!” Obi-Wan said without thinking, and Gree looked so pleased that he couldn’t be embarrassed about it.

“I may be able to finish in three years, actually,” He said, “And do an accelerated Master’s during my fourth year. Me and dad are trying to figure all of that out.”

“How is your dad doing?” Obi-Wan knew he was doing much better than he had been in August and September because Cody no longer stayed over at his house, and they had apparently reduced the amount of medicine he was taking as his overall health had been improving at a decent clip.

“He’s alright,” Gree shrugged his shoulders, “Misses eating beef, I think.”

Obi-Wan chuckled, remembering that Qui-Gon was supposed to be on a very strict diet once his illness was discovered, but Obi-Wan had come home often to find him eat a slice of white bread, smeared with butter and sprinkled with granulated sugar (none of which he was supposed to be eating), oftentimes with Ahsoka who was eating the same but who at least had the grace to look embarrassed when Obi-Wan discovered them.

“Cody said he’s back at work.”

“Thank goodness,” Gree said, and Obi-Wan could see the tinge of a blush on his cheeks, “I mean…I’m glad he’s healthy. It was…interesting having him at the house all day over break.”

“There they are,” Obi-Wan pointed down the steps where Cody and Rex had appeared, hands stuffed with cups of steaming beverages. They passed them out: Apple cider for Gree and Cody, hot chocolate for Rex and Obi-Wan.

“I have a surprise,” Cody said, settling into his seat next to Obi-Wan, pressing close to him. “You have to share though, it was one of the last bags.”

“I’m good at sharing,” Obi-Wan said, trying to see what Cody was fishing out of the deep pockets of his coat. It was Kettle Korn, the top part twisted tightly down to keep it fresh. A fruitless gesture, Obi-Wan thought, since the odds of it making it through the next hour were minimal. He pressed a kiss of thanks to Cody’s cheek and set down his hot chocolate on the stone between himself and Gree as he opened it, taking the first bite and savoring the rich sweetness.

He offered some to Rex, who declined it, holding up the piece of homemade fudge he had bought for himself. But Cody took a handful, and Gree took a cautious amount, having never eaten it. One he did, however, he took the much larger handful that Obi-Wan offered and started to tell them a story about a movie night he had organized with some of the friends that he had made, prattling off names and snacks and details of the movie. It made Obi-Wan happy, to see him so open and excited. He laid his head on Cody’s shoulder, eating his way through his bag of corn as he listened and everyone waited on the last few stragglers to come in so that the show could start.

The show started with a bang, as it always did, with a flashy display of the city’s name and skyline to call everyone’s attention. Then other images: The university logo, the city motto, some of the iconic sites in the capital. As Obi-Wan’s Kettle Korn disappeared, he stuffed the bag into his pocket and instead took Cody’s hand in his own, holding them together as the scenes changed to animals, trees, a dragon that zoomed over the top of the crowd. Spaceships and rockets; a pirate ship; holiday decorations including a whole set of carolers made out of the lights; books and images; all set with a perfectly timed soundtrack in the back and a smoke machine lighting up the bottom of the stadium.

Rex seemed like he was at least mildly enjoying himself, but Gree was watching the entire thing with a fascination that Obi-Wan could wholly appreciate. His eyes were wide, he laughed at all the right moments, leaning forward in his seat as if it might make the scenes closer to him than they were. College had been good for Gree, Obi-Wan realized. He was branching both out and up, embracing his interests with the same vigor he always had, but with friends who supported that now. His slightly reddish hair was longer, growing out over his ears which Cody told Obi-Wan never would have flown with their father when he was Gree’s age; he had a hint of a beard that would shadow his face from time to time. He seemed looser, happier. And Obi-Wan was happy.

Cody pressed his cheek down on the top of Obi-Wan’s head as the show began to wrap up with the creation of the Aurora Borealis that covered the entire top of the amphitheater. Obi-Wan smiled, thinking of his family. His brother and sister and Padme and Luke and Leia of course, but also Cody. And Rex. And Gree. And Jango. And Waxer and Boil and Fives. Maybe even Barriss, if Anakin was right about that relationship. And he smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go! I guess you can all probably guess what it will be! :) 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the support on here and on the outtakes. More of those to come :) 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy. Please R and R, let me know what you think!

“I still can’t believe you managed to get sabbatical the semester you’re getting married,” Anakin was sitting on Obi-Wan’s couch, flipping through his magazine. “Someone had to put two and two together.”

“It’s not like I’m taking the semester off, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said and sighed, pinning up his sleeves, “I do have obligations for research, you know.”

“Sure,” Anakin said, and flipping the page, dog-earing them in the way he always did. Obi-Wan used to think he did it for his own amusement until Padme informed him that things did in fact regularly appear at the house from Popular Mechanics. Now that Luke and Leia had started being able to talk with words, Anakin was teaching them about all of the projects he had started working on that occupied the workspace under the carport. Leia’s favorite word at the moment was wrench, which had greatly confused Obi-Wan the last time he had watched them until Padme had arrived and explained. For Obi-Wan’s birthday, he had received some usual gifts from Anakin and Padme and Ahsoka and Cody and even Rex who had gotten him a gift card to Dex’s, but he had also received a very unusual gift—a bundle of very twisted pieces of metal and plastic—from the twins which Anakin had proudly informed him that they had helped to make themselves. “That’s why you have a two week honeymoon.”

“Cody hasn’t taken more than two days of vacation since he was appointed Director,” Obi-Wan objected, “He’s got more than enough time built up and my…flexible schedule allows it.”

“And then you’re out of this place.”

Obi-Wan’s duplex over the past two weeks had become increasingly populated with boxes. All of the things he had accumulated over the years from furniture to tea towels to dishware to pictures were carefully packed into boxes and had been stacked in his living room for the last few weeks. Cody’s apartment looked much the same, his room boxed up and stacked around the workout equipment that Rex kept in the front. Within a week after their honeymoon, the closing papers on the house that they had picked out together would be finished and they could move in there; the lease on Obi-Wan’s duplex where he had lived for what felt like a whole lifetime would run out at the end of that month; Gree would take Cody’s place in the apartment with Rex for the school year. That, maybe even more than the wedding or the honeymoon or anything else that was happening might be the biggest change.

He sat on the other end of the couch, the soft green fabric wrapping around him. IT was the one piece of furniture (though there ended up being others) that he had insisted they take to their house. It was hideous and well-worn and matched absolutely nothing and reminded Obi-Wan so much of Qui-Gon that he couldn’t bear to part with it. And, he knew that if he tried to get rid of it, Anakin would take it and Padme might actually kill him for that.

“And then I’m out of this place,” He agreed, looking over at Anakin who now had his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth just slightly as he looked through a diagram.

“When do we get to see the house?”

“As soon as the people who live there now are gone,” Obi-Wan said, “You can go over with Rex; he’s going with the moving crew to take over all of the things the day before we get back.”

“Sounds like so much fun,” Anakin said under his breath, and Obi-Wan had to grin. It seemed like it had been a very long time since Anakin had come over to his apartment like this. Between work and wedding planning and the twins starting headstart, it seemed like life had been coming at them full force lately. Anakin would have to leave soon to pick up Luke and Leia, but at the moment, it almost felt like it was two years ago again. Like he was thirty-six and nervous about the first date with the man who was his fiancé, like he had never attended a City Youth Sports League Game or ever heard of the Tornadoes, like he hadn’t spent hours on the phone and in the fluorescent lights and Dex’s and lying close together on a bed learning all the things he could imagine about the man he loved more than he had ever imagined being in love with a person, before Luke and Leia and the pure joy that radiated off of them, before London, before a year of life blissfully engaged.

He looked over at Anakin, expecting to see him laughing or looking at his magazine, but instead, he was raising a hand to his face, wiping away tears that were trickling down it. Obi-Wan blinked, thinking for a moment that he had imagined it, but when his eyes reopened, Anakin was still crying.

“Anakin?” He asked, and Anakin smiled over at him, but didn’t look him in the eyes.

“I’m not sad,” Anakin said, and let out a little laugh, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure what to do. He had cried a fair amount boxing things up, in particular the pictures and books, some of which he hadn’t looked at since Qui-Gon had given them too him to read alongside him while he was largely bedridden.

“I think it just hit me that this will be the last time we do this here,” Anakin said finally, looking up at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan realized what he meant. When he thought about all that was coming, the overwhelming feeling was the joy that rose up in his chest, so much that he could feel like he was floating. But there was tinge of sadness there too. This wasn’t what he had expected form his own life, and there had been so much sadness and confusion and hustle in the three years since Qui-Gon had died that he hadn’t certainly hadn’t expected to feel like this.

He remembered the first time that Anakin had come over to his apartment like this, like it was something he had always done and that it was a completely innocuous event to have him there on Obi-Wan’s couch, complaining that about the fact that the only reading material Obi-Wan had was either strictly academic writing or a magazine about decorative porch furniture. He remembered when the first issue of Popular Mechanics had shown up in the mailbox and the text he’d gotten two days later from Padme explaining that she had heard from Anakin that maybe he could use one. He thought of all the times that Ahsoka had appeared after a few quick texts and they had shared half tubs of Ben And Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream while she lamented a test coming up or an argument she was having with Barriss. He thought of all the nights that Cody had spent here, everything they had down from watching E.T.— Cody’s favorite movie—to spending their first night together in Obi-Wan’s bed that would soon provide the frame for their guest bedroom.

“I’m really happy, Obi-Wan,” Anakin spoke again, startling Obi-Wan out of his memories. Obi-Wan looked over at him, and Anakin was smiling at him, almost gently. “For all of us, really. But mostly I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy.”

* * *

“I don’t understand the difference between the first two,” Obi-Wan said, setting his fork down on the table. “Aren’t they the same thing?”

The baker on the other side of the counter looked absolutely indignant. “Cake A,” He said with a flourishing wave, “is flavored with almond essence in the sponge and the buttercream. Cake B,” He waved his hand again to the other cupcake, “is flavored with almond extract for both the sponge and buttercream.”

“Right,” Obi-Wan said, even though to him the cakes tasted absolutely the same. He spared a glance at Cody, worried for a moment that he was in some way deficient at cake tasting. But Cody had the expression on his face that meant he was barely holding back laughter, his tongue peaking out of his lips to swipe at the bit of buttercream that was caught on his upper lip. “Well, how about the lemon.”

“The lemon is delicious,” The baker said, “But very dense! Especially with the poppy seed.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, and thought to himself that personally the cake had seemed perfectly delicious, “Is that bad?”

Of all of Padme’s recommendations for places to start, the wedding cake bakery had been the only one so far where they had encountered issues. Mostly, Obi-Wan had to admit, ones that were self-inflicted. The baker, who had shown him the designs he was planning on doing for the cake, all star-themed, ( all of which had been absolutely beautiful), now had them in for taste testing a week before the actual event to determine which flavor they would like. Classic wedding, white, yellow, devil’s food, lemon poppyseed, some kind of summer berry; baked into perfect cupcakes with ceramic bowls of buttercream flavors so they could try them all together. Though they had been there an hour, it seemed to Obi-Wan that they had made very little progress. At this moment, the baker’s forehead vein was pulsing heavily out of his skin as if he were going to pop at any moment at Obi-Wan’s continual questions.

“Not for eating, but for design,” He said with thinly veiled frustration, “It could fall apart very easily.”

“Well, what do you think Cody?”

“I like the lemon poppyseed,” Cody said, turning his head to the side, “But I also like the devil’s food cake.” That was not a surprise. Cody didn’t eat much in the way of dessert, but Obi-Wan knew that the man loved chocolate more than almost anything else. In particular chocolate covered strawberries, but Obi-Wan didn’t think that would be much in the way of cake flavors.

“I like the devil’s food cake,” Obi-Wan said, and waited on reproach from the baker, “With just the classic buttercream, maybe.”

“That is traditional,” The man said, relief almost evident in his voice. “And delicious.”

“I think we should have a classic option for people who don’t like the chocolate, though,” Cody added, “We can do the traditional with the almond extract if you think that would be better.”

“We can do your groom’s cakes with the devil’s food,” The baker suggested quickly, “And the two tiered cake with the classic.”

“Could you do one groom’s cake the devil’s food and one with the lemon poppyseed?” Obi-Wan asked, and saw Cody cover his mouth with his hand to hide a smile.

“Yes,” The baker said, though he drew out the last syllable. “You would like yours with the lemon?” Obi-Wan nodded, “And your’s with the devil’s food?” Cody nodded. “Then I will get you a receipt.”

While they waited, Obi-Wan walked over to the glass countertop where a variety of treats were being wrapped and packaged for people who were coming in and out of the door at odd intervals. A handful stayed to eat at the small glass tables in the front of the shop, sipping coffee out of steaming mugs and eating the delicate cakes, cookies, and patisserie there. Cody wrote the check form their joint account to turn in, walking over to Obi-Wan who was considering getting a pack of the rosewater macaroons to take home, but decided ultimately against it. He eyes had just settled on the tray of beautifully dipped chocolate covered strawberries when Cody came over to him.

“You ready to head to the tailor?” He asked, and Obi-Wan nodded, turning to follow him out of the shop.

They stepped outside into the bustling sounds of downtown, people milling around between shops and booths and restaurants that comprised the city center. “Wait, Cody, I think I forgot my glasses,” He said, patting his pocket.

“I’ll wait here,” Cody said, and Obi-Wan nodded, turning back in. He had not forgotten his glasses at all, though he did pat his pocket to double-check. The baker saw him returning and came out of the kitchen, looking exasperated.

“Sorry to bother you again,” Obi-Wan said, “I’d like to add an order of a hundred of the dark chocolate strawberries if you can do that. As a surprise.” He added, gesturing towards Cody as subtlety as he could manage.

He thought that perhaps the baker almost smiled as he added it to their cake order and Obi-Wan slipped him cash that he had kept in his pocket.

“Did you find them?” Cody asked as he stepped back outside with the tinkling of bells above the doorway.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said, and patted his pocket where they had been all the while, “Let’s head to the tailor.”

He reached down and took Cody’s hand in his own, unable to keep the giddy feeling off his face, even as more than one pin needle pricked him in the waist as they made the final alterations to his suit.

* * *

“I know you didn’t want a Bachelor party,” Anakin moved in front of the television where Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

“Anakin, you did not invite a stripper to our home!” Padme said, stepping out from the kitchen. “Tell me you didn’t!”

“I didn’t!” Anakin said hastily, raising his hands in his own defense, “What I was going to say is that even though you didn’t want a Bachelor party, that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a party.”

“I don’t know, Skyguy,” Ahsoka said, eating another mouthful of popcorn, “This is already a pretty rad party.” She gestured at the screen where a pack of wolves were scouring through an elk pack in Yellowstone, hunting for their dinner. Obi-Wan nodded his agreement, sipping at the Long Island Iced Tea that Padme had just brought him from the kitchen, another one in her own hand.

“Well, maybe I have something better, Snips,” He said, giving her an unconvincing glare. “I got Obi-Wan’s favorite movie.”

Obi-Wan highly doubted that. His favorite film, thanks to one of Qui-Gon’s waves of intense interests, was a French language romance-heist film from the 1950’s that he was quite certain that while he had mentioned it before to Anakin, he would not expect him to remember it at all.

“ _Casque D’or_!” Anakin said, pulling a very battered looking DVD case from behind his back.

“What the hell is that?” Ahsoka asked, looking at the case, “Is that in French?”

“Yes!” Anakin said, “But I know for a fact it’s Obi-Wan’s favorite movie. He told me it was the best Becker film, even though most people think its _Le Trou_.” Anakin grinned broadly, taking in the look of shock still on Obi-Wan’s face. “It took a lot of EBay searching and outbidding some film professor for me to get this bad boy.”

Half an hour later, armed with subtitles, another Long Island Iced Tea that was making Obi-Wan much fuzzier than he remembered ever being, leaning onto the middle cushion of the couch with Ahsoka’s head only a few inches away, both of them half-laughing, half-crying at the love triangle being played out on screen. Anakin, the only one of them who had not partaken in any cocktails, was enamored with the movie, giving it his full attention, and Padme was crying freely into his shirt where they were cuddled close together on the couch.

Even though the movie held most of his attention, Obi-Wan did on occasion wonder what Cody was doing. Probably not watching _Casque D’Or,_ though he was going to his father’s house for the night with all of his brothers. Something that Rex had put together. At first he had wondered if Rex would have tried to get Cody to go to a strip club, but the whole image of Cody, who still blushed when Obi-Wan came out of the bathroom with less clothes on than he expected, doing that made Obi-Wan laugh out loud, even though the movie was certainly not a point that merited that.

He looked back to the screen, letting the warm fuzziness of this whole moment wash over him, letting tears flow as the protagonist entered the knife fight that would decide the fate of the heist and his companions. And he smiled, letting thoughts of what the next day might bring filter into his mind alongside them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, it's done! 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the support on this story, it's been really incredible and I've had so much fun as a result!!! 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please R and R, let me know what you think! :) 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr, I'm always down to talk shop and Star WArs

“You look like you're about to blow a gasket,” Anakin had his eyes fixed on Obi-Wan’s lapel as he spoke, straightening the flower that was pinned there for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. “Just breathe, Obi-Wan.”

“Anakin’s right,” Ahsoka said from her chair where she was flipping through one of the wedding magazines that had been left by someone a long time before today. “Padme and I are the ones at risk of looking ridiculous here,” She waved one of her high heels as if to prove her point, “You’ve got a cake walk.”

“Literally,” Anakin said, stepping back from Obi-Wan with a final flattening of the shoulders on his suit, “And the cakes look amazing.”

The cakes were beautiful; Obi-Wan had glanced them on his way in. Decorated with thick swirls of ombre blue icing, they gave the illusion of looking out at the stars.

“Did everyone make it all right?” Obi-Wan had asked this a hundred times already, and knew the answer. But in a way it was soothing to repeat it. It took his mind off the fact that in approximately three minutes and forty-five seconds, the ceremony would begin.

“If they didn’t, it’s a little late now,” Padme’s elbow dug into Anakin’s ribs to shut him up and Obi-Wan did almost smile at the glare she gave him.

“It’s a full house. Only your mother’s sister couldn’t make it because of her flight cancellation.”

Obi-Wan nodded; his mother Tahl only had one sister named Claudia who had no children. He liked Aunt Claudia, all of the four times he had seen her in his life, but thought it was nothing to fret about.

“Did Cody’s unit commander make it?”

“Yes, he did,” Padme assured him, “I’m pretty sure he’s wearing his old naval uniform actually.”

“Lucky,” Anakin said, fidgeting with the sleeves of his suit jacket, “It feels like I’m being strangled in this.”

“Well, you look lovely,” Padme said and Obi-Wan could see the slight preening he did at her comment, though Obi-Wan was almost certain it was just to keep him quiet. “Mom and dad said that Luke and Leia are very excited, though she did pin down the rings on Luke's pillow so don’t stab yourself.”

Obi-Wan could see it now, accidentally stabbing himself with a sewing pin into some vital artery, bleeding out in front of a crowd of his and Cody’s closest friends and family. It was absolutely ridiculous, but he couldn’t ignore the sudden, slight dryness at the back of his throat at the thought.

The door opened and Adi Gallia, one of Obi-Wan’s closet friends, poked her head in. “The officiator is up at the altar,” She said, and couldn’t contain her smile as she looked Obi-Wan over before stepping back out.

“All right,” Ahsoka said, “Let’s get lined up.”

“You two go on ahead,” Anakin said, “I just need to do one more thing to Obi-Wan’s tie.”

Padme and Ahsoka stepped out, and Obi-Wan turned to look in the mirror, confused as to how his tie could have been misshapen in the brief minutes since the last time he had fixed it. “Anakin, I don’t think my tie is crooked—” He barely got out before Anakin’s arms were around him.

Like their father, Anakin was taller than Obi-wan, and broader too, and his hug was almost all encompassing.

“Aren’t I the one who is supposed to be feeling all emotional?” Obi-Wan said, wrapping his arms around his brother.

“Well,” Anakin said, pulling back to meet Obi-Wan’s gaze, “You’ve always been the stoic one.”

“That’s true.”

“I just…You’ve always been there for me Obi-Wan. Before and after dad died and every time I’ve needed you,” Obi-Wan felt tears threatening and though it might be a disaster for the later pictures, he wasn’t sure he cared to contain them. “And now…now you’ve found someone who loves you as much as Ahsoka and Padme and I do and I just…” He couldn’t speak anymore, but he did wrap his arms around Obi-Wan once again.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a moment, letting what Anakin said settle in his mind and his heart. Wasn’t that exactly what Qui-Gon had told him? That love, real love like the love he’d always known from his family, would come if he could stand to wait for it? If he wouldn’t give up on it? And now it was waiting on him.

The nerves that had been swelling all morning started to dissipate as Anakin released him and actually did straighten his tie that had been forced out of alignment.

“You ready?” Anakin finally asked, his regular mischievous grin back on his face.

Obi-Wan nodded, and followed him out the door into the gazebo where the future lay in waiting.

* * *

Obi-Wan had to admit that to some in the audience, the front wedding party may have looked rather comical. Behind him stood Anakin, then Padme, then Ahsoka, each of whom were holding the hands of one of the twins who stood dutifully quiet besides Leia swinging her flower basket around in her hands. It was completely empty at least, because as she had reached the end of her walk and realized that there were still plenty of petals, she had turned the basket over and dumped them all into a small pile where Padme now stood, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. But on Cody’s side, the line seemed to stretch endlessly and for those that could see Jango seated in the front row, looking so similar to all of Cody’s brothers and even wearing a very strikingly similar black suit, it was only an added effect. Especially since all of them except Fives--who had retained his neatly trimmed goatee-- had fresh haircuts and clean shaves for the event.

It had been far from a traditional wedding entry altogether. Their parties had come through the traditional aisle: Anakin and Rex had entered together before splitting, Padme with Waxer and Boil, Ahsoka with Fives and Gree. Obi-Wan and Cody, however, had entered at the same time from opposite outsides of the gazebo and met in the middle where the officiator stood waiting for them.

Padme, despite her earlier efforts not to, was crying slightly (which much concerned Luke who had had scrunched up his face several times, trying to discern the cause of her tears). Gree looked as though he might do the same at any moment.

And Obi-Wan wanted to notice all of those things. He wanted to remember every moment and detail and reaction that was happening around him in that moment, but he couldn’t. Not with Cody right there, not with the warm weight of Cody’s hand held in his own, with the flecks of gold catching the late spring sunlight that filtered between the boards in the gazebo and the cut of his dark purple suit making him look almost like a picture there in front of Obi-Wan. But more than that, it was the shining in his eyes; he was as close to tears as Obi-Wan was, it seemed. Joyous tears, happy tears, anything that showed their shared feelings at this moment. Obi-Wan only hoped that Cody could see it in him as well.

The ceremony was brief, the longest part being the vows that Obi-Wan had written (which he could hear more than one crying person in the audience), and the similar ones that Cody had done. There was no accidental stabbing or falling or tripping and any other disaster. Only the sensation that he was becoming slowly shrouded in warmth.

“I now pronounce you husband and husband,” The officiator said—Obi-Wan thought it sounded like even she might be on the verge of tears—“You may kiss the groom.”

Obi-Wan thought that Cody’s lips, his husbands lips, had never tasted sweeter.

* * *

Obi-Wan thought that they would have enough pictures to memorialize their wedding indefinitely if they chose to. Individual pictures with each member of the wedding party. Pictures with his siblings, with his nephew and niece, with Cody and Jango, with all of his new brothers, with Anakin, with Anakin and Padme, with Ahsoka, with Ahsoka and Anakin and Padme, and finally what seemed infinite numbers with just Cody.

Cody. Cody Fett, his husband, their matching rings resting on top of the engagement rings they had selected for each other. Simple gold bands that glittered when you held them just the right way. They would have enough pictures to paper the walls of their new house.

And then the reception. Part of Obi-Wan ached to disappear. Just to take Cody and go away, far away, and be alone and revel in the fact that they’re married. But the part of him that wanted to share these moments with others, especially his family, won out. And then there were more pictures, most of them involving slicing the cake or the tradition of feeding each other their first slice (though both opted for their respective groom’s cakes rather than the traditional wedding cake that was being consumed en masse). Obi-Wan kissed away the dab of frosting that clung to Cody’s cheek before they finished their slices together, looking out at the crowd of their people who had come to see them married, laughing and dancing and enjoying the light breeze that blew through the park.

Cody had scarcely gotten his cake down when the bakery had brought out the trays of chocolate covered strawberries that Obi-Wan had ordered for the event. They were exquisite, perfectly bite sized and feathered with white chocolate across the top. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but make a quick joke that Cody seemed more excited about the strawberries than he had about the actual wedding. And the others enjoyed them too, the trays disappearing quickly once people noticed they were there until the dessert table once again held what was left of the three cakes and perhaps a dozen strawberries.

“Care for a dance?” Cody said, as he set Luke back down on the ground, having held him up so that he could see the top tier of the cake and reach out to grab a fistful of frosting that he was waving excitedly to show Leia as he bounced across the floor of the outdoor patio. The evening had come and the whole place was buzzing with the feel of an early summer evening. The lights that hung in strings around the top balcony buzzed with a faint glow, mingling with the lamps that were set on each of the tables away from the dance floor and the lights from the bar and speaker system. With the exception of a few small children, no one was dancing yet—choosing instead to eat their cake and other foods that Dex’s had brought in (the Diner had never done catering, Dex himself had said, but he would make an exception for this)—and Obi-Wan thought that Cody had an excellent thought.

Cody motioned to the man at the stereo system and Obi-Wan realized that he had picked out a song for their first dance. It was a song Obi-Wan had shown him, slow and acoustic and not perhaps not traditionally romantic. But they spun in slow circles around the dance floor, Obi-Wan leading with easy grace in much the same way he had the first time they had gone dancing.

“I thought something slow for our first dance,” Cody said as other couples started to join them on the dance floor, moving in slow semi-circles. “And you showed me this song.”

“You played it on our trip out to the park,” Obi-Wan said, so softly that he could be certain only Cody would hear. “I remember.”

He could see the heat in Cody’s cheeks, the small blush that showed he was right. Not that that was any reason to be embarrassed, but Obi-Wan knew him well enough that it simply meant that Cody was often flustered over those sort of romantic gestures.

“We’re married,” He said, whispering it as if it were in fact a big secret, so close to Cody’s ear he could smell the tiny remnants of his shampoo that still lingered in his hair.

“Yeah,” Cody said back, his own breath warming the side of Obi-Wan’s neck.

“It seems unbelievable,” Obi-Wan said again, feeling a giddiness, the same giddiness he had felt so long ago when Cody had come into his life and in the passing moments since that had built the foundation of their relationship.

“No,” Cody pulled his head back to meet Obi-Wan’s eyes as the song crescendo’d into its bridge. “It was always inevitable.”

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows at that, a teasing smile on his lips, “Is that so?”

“Oh yeah,” Cody defended. “I’ve loved you since that first night.”

And he closed the gap between them with a kiss: Soft and sweet and full and fiery all the same.

* * *

Obi-Wan thought that he would be more tired as things came to a close. But, as thrilling and exciting as the wedding had been, there was a new sort of anticipation settling in his stomach now. He and Cody were leaving for their two weeks at the National Park again, off to start their life together. Anakin was directing the catering crew as they cleaned and all of Cody’s brothers had brooms and mops in hand as the last of the guests started to leave for the evening. Padme was coordinating getting the presents loaded into the car for them to pick up when they got back, and Ahsoka was collecting all the loose bits and baubles that they had left out on tables or in the various rooms between the gazebo where the ceremony was and the covered patio that was the reception.

Obi-Wan and Cody had changed, and though Obi-Wan did slightly mourn the loss of the deep purple suit that Cody had worn, he had no complaints about seeing Cody how he normally was.

“Dad says all of our stuff is the car,” Cody said, coming over to stand by him where his car, decorated with the write-on markers that Anakin had purchased. Obi-Wan had been surprised that the comments were all tasteful: “Just Married!” “C+O” in a large heart, and a surprisingly accurate stick figure portrayal of the two of them until Ahsoka had informed him that Padme had wiped off, “If the car is rocking, don’t come knocking” after Anakin had written it across the back windshield and made him put something else. “Are you ready?”

Obi-Wan looked back over the park, the site of their vows and his first dance with his husband and his brother and sisters and all of his new family as well and then down at his hand where his gold band caught the last of the light from the string lights. “More than ready,” He said and gave Cody’s hand a quick squeeze, waving good bye to his family as climbed in the passenger side of Cody’s car.

Once they were on the highway, Cody reached his hand across the console, and even in the darkness Obi-Wan could see the smile on his face. He took Cody’s hand in his own, threading their fingers together, letting the warmth spread from his fingers to his head back down to his toes as he watched the city disappear behind them and the view outside the window shift to softly familiar trees, in full bloom that, even though it was night, showed the full promise of new beginnings.


End file.
